Grey Areas
by Huntniffbastian
Summary: Jeff is a new student at Dalton who quickly finds himself entangled in a web of complicated relationships with his classmates. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Jeff's P.O.V.**

I walk nervously into the majestic building that is now my school as well as my home. The further I go in, the more I appreciate all the elaborate decor that runs all the way down the hallway, and watch excitedly as groups of boys, all in uniform, walk past me, catching various snippets of conversations.

I wander around in search of my dorm room, having no idea where to look exactly. I don't really mind, though, this gives me an excuse to tour my way around the school and get a look at all of the fascinating things that they have here.

I walk up a few flights of stairs, getting a look at the higher floors of the school. There's a long hallway with a bunch of closed, numbered doors. I assume that this is where the dorm rooms are, but I guess I don't know for sure. I don't really know what to expect around here, but I have a feeling I shouldn't try and open any of the closed doors.

I glance over to see a handsome brunette walking out of one of the rooms down the hallway. He's average in height, with a muscular build and lively green eyes. He has a classic look to his smile as he approaches me, "Hello, are you new here?" He asks with a clear voice, very friendly and welcoming.

I return the smile, "Yeah, hi."

He extends his hand, "I'm Nick Duval. Can I help you find anything? You look a wee bit lost."

"Jeff Sterling." I reply, shaking his hand gently, "Um, yeah, if you don't mind. I'm assuming that I'm pretty close by now, but I was looking for my dorm room."

"Absolutely," he answers, folding his hands, "What's your room number?"

"It's um, 326C, I believe."

"That's not far," he tells me, leading the way down the hall, "Can I help you with your bags?"

"Oh, no thank you," I mutter modestly, "They're not very heavy."

I follow him down a few different hallways. He glances over at me, "If my facts are straight, which I'm pretty sure they are, you'll be rooming with my best friend. He's a really cool guy, I think you'll like him a lot."

"Oh, cool." I reply, assuming that his friend probably has a few things in common with him.

We get to my bedroom and he opens the door for me as we both walk inside. I glance over to see a tall, skinny boy lying on his stomach, flipping through a text book on his bed. He's dressed in seemingly nothing but a bathrobe and his hair is chestnut and dripping wet. He looks over at us with blue eyes, an amused look on his pointed features, "Hey, Nicky, who's this?"He asks in a sharp voice, closing his book and sitting up.

Nick smiles over at him, "This is Jeff Sterling, your new roommate. Jeff this is Sebastian-"

"Smythe," Sebastian finishes, getting off his bed to shake my hand, "Excuse my lack of clothing, but I guess you'll be getting used to it soon enough if we're living together. Nice hair by the way, is that real?"

"Thanks, yeah it is," I answer, shaking his surprisingly cold hand, "And I don't mind, we're all guys here."

He smirks, tossing off his bathrobe to reveal the rest of his pale, bony frame in just a pair of boxers, "True, but I don't know about you, but a lot of us are gay, here, too, so that kind of defeats the purpose." He pulls a pair of khakis and a polo on.

"Oh," I mutter, a little surprised, "Whatever. It's all good."

Nick pets me on the shoulder as Sebastian walks into the bathroom to check his hair. "He can be a little blunt sometimes," Nick explains to me quietly, "But he's really a nice guy when you get to know him."

I nod, "Yeah, he seems alright." I dump the contents of my suitcase carelessly into the empty dresser drawers. Nick sits down on the side of Sebastian's bed, "How do you like Dalton so far?"

"It's beautiful." I reply, glancing over my shoulder at him, "I was breathless when I first saw it."

"Looks a lot nicer on the inside, that's for sure," Sebastian mutters, walking back into the room, "Where are you from, anyway?"

"New Mexico." I answer pleasantly.

He raises an eyebrow, "Why?"

Nick shakes his head at Sebastian with a sigh.

"Well, I'm not originally from there, that's just where I was most recently prior to moving here." I explain, not sure how to properly answer his question.

"Fair enough," he replies, "Sounds kinda lame, though."

Nick rolls his eyes at his friend and then turns back to me, "Did you like New Mexico?"

I shrug, "It was okay, I guess. Honestly, I'm not a fan of the heat there, but I guess I can't complain."

"It was probably better than this shit hole, though," Sebastian comments, "Ohio's the lamest state in this backwards ass country."

"Ohio's not that bad," Nick attempts to say, but Sebastian doesn't look like he's paying attention.

"Well, I'll catch you guys later. Nice meeting you, Jeffrey, I'm meeting up with some guys down at Scandals." My new roommate mutters as he finishes gelling his hair up.

"It's Jefferson, actually," I reply, "Just call me Jeff, though."

"Sure thing, buddy." he mutters halfheartedly and then turns to give Nick a peck on the cheek, "Peace out, guys." He walks out the door hastily.

I look at Nick, "You didn't mention you guys were seeing each other."

"Oh, we're not," he replies, shaking his head, "He's just French."

"That would explain a lot." I mutter with a laugh, "And what's scandals?"

"Just some club he likes to go to across town. Can I help you unpack?"

"Sure," I mutter, making some space for him. He kneels beside me and we empty the rest of my first suitcase.

The rest of the night is spent unpacking and chatting with my new friend. I say goodbye to him around 10 or so, and I go to sleep with a feeling of comfort and contentment.

The next morning I start all my classes, which is a little overwhelming. I seem to adjust pretty well, though. All my teachers seem nice enough, and I don't have too much work that I'll need to catch up on. During my last class period, History, I can't help but notice one of the boys staring at me with bright hazel eyes as soon as I walk through the doorway. Generally it would seem a little bit creepy, but he has a certain charm that makes him just appear interested rather than psychotic. I give a small smile before looking away and taking a seat.

I glance over to see him getting out his seat and walking towards me. He's taller than I would have guessed, with broad shoulders and a striking facial structure. He sits down next to me, running a hand through his dark golden hair, "You must be Jeff." His voice is deep and masculine, a wry grin on his mouth.

I nod, "Yeah, hi. Who are you?"

He raises an eyebrow, "You haven't heard of me?" he replies cockily.

"I guess not." I murmur, feeling like I should probably be embarrassed.

"That's alright," he mutters casually, "I guess it is only your first day. I'm Hunter Clarington. Captain of the warblers."

"Oh," I smile warmly at him, "My friends Nick and Sebastian are warblers."

"No kidding," he replies with a smirk, "I know all the warblers pretty well, I mean, I have to, don't I?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so." I stammer, feeling a little bit dumb.

"It's okay," he replies casually, "The dumb blond thing is cute when you're clearly not faking it." He winks at me and heads back to his seat.

I frown a little, trying to figure out if that was supposed to be an insult or a compliment. I sigh, shaking it off as class begins.

After I'm finished with all my classes I head straight back to my dorm. Nick had mentioned that he and Sebastian had lacrosse practice right after school, and I don't feel like I know anyone else well enough to be hanging out together in our spare time.

I whirl through my homework assignments relatively quickly, not having anything better to do. When I finish I dress down and take a nap, bored and not used to the time difference yet. I sleep away the rest of the afternoon and into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

I wake up late that night to Sebastian coming in, noisily rustling about as he changes into his pajamas. My eyes squint open as I watch him pulling on an old sweat shirt. I sit up a little bit, "What time is it?"

He jumps a little bit, not realizing that I had woken up, "Good lord, Jefferson, you nearly scared to me have to death!"

"Jeff," I correct him, stretching my arms out, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Is it morning?"

"Technically," he answers, clumsily changing his socks, "It's probably almost 3 A.M."

I raise an eyebrow, "What are you doing up this late on a school night?"

He rolls his eyes, "Just hanging out. It's not really your business, now, is it?"His words are all slurred together and somewhat hard to understand.

"Are you drunk?" I ask in disbelief.

"No, not really anymore." He answers, tucking himself away in bed and shutting the lights off.

I frown, "You're unbelievable." I mutter, throwing my head back down on my pillow.

I make an attempt to fall back asleep but I can't. I get up shortly before four and head outside to get some fresh air, still dressed in flannel pants and a lose tank top.

I breathe in the chilly morning air as I watch the fog along the grass. There's only a hint of light in the sky, but it already feels like morning to me. I wander around the school grounds for a while as I wait for the sun to rise.

I look over my shoulder to see a figure jogging towards me along the pathway. I can't tell who they are from here, only that they're relatively tall and wearing a white shirt. I stop in my tracks and wait for them to get closer so that I can identify who they are. They slow down as they get closer, "Jeff? Is that you?"

I immediately recognize the voice as Hunter's as he gets closer and I can make out his appearance better, "Yeah. What's up?"

He stops a few feet away from me, "I was just out on my morning run, what are you doing out so early?"

"Truth be told my roommate got in really late last night and woke me up, I couldn't fall back to sleep." I explain casually.

"Who's your roommate?" He asks as we begin walking down the pathway together.

"Sebastian."

He smirks, "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. That kid has no discipline or common sense of any kind."

I shrug, "He's a little odd, I guess, but he's a pretty cool guy once you get to know him."

He raises an eyebrow, "Explain to me you've gotten to know him in like two days."

"Well, I haven't. But that's what Nick told me, at least," I mutter, "He seems okay to me to be honest. I don't want to assume the worst about people."

He shakes his head, "Well that's nice, but you wouldn't have to assume anything. Sebastian isn't a very admirable person, and that's coming from me."

I frown slightly, "Care to explain?"

"Sure," he replies, "Not that you won't find out on your own, though. Don't tell him I told you this, cause he randomly gets overly sensitive sometimes, but I kinda think he has legitimate issues. He sleeps around with whoever he can find that will treat him the worst, for starters. He gets drunk a least four nights a week and he thinks he's the best thing since Jesus."

"Oh..." I murmur, "Well, maybe he has like problems or something..."

"That's putting in lightly." He replies, "Seriously, I feel so bad for you that you're stuck being his roommate. I don't understand how Nick and some of the other guys put up with him sometimes."

"Nick seems to really like him, I'm sure he's not all bad."

He smiles at me, petting me on the shoulder, "You're a nice kid. You really try and see the best in people, huh?"

I shake my head, "It's not even that, I just don't think Sebastian's all that bad."

"Don't deny it," he replies, "I think that's a good way to be. I admire you for it."

"Oh, well, thank you, then." I say with a small smile, flattered that someone like him would compliment me like that.

We go for a few laps around the school as the sun rises. I watch the way the morning light him, making him glisten like gold from head to toe. He looks beautiful, almost god like. He glances over at me, noticing that I was staring, "See something you like?"

"Oh, haha, sorry," I mutter, embarrassed, "I just zoned out for a second. You do look nice in this lighting, though. Not in a gay way or anything like that, just you know..."

He raises his eyebrows, "Sure thing. Are you, though?"

"Am I what?"

"Gay." He answers plainly.

I freeze up for a second, not really sure what to say, "Oh, um, no, not really, I guess. Are you?"

He shakes his head, "No. But you don't have to hide it if you are, there's a lot of kids that are out of the closet here, you don't have to worry about getting beat up or anything like that."

"Good to know, " I mutter, "But um, no, I'm pretty straight."

The more I think about it, the less straight I actually feel. I guess it doesn't matter much, though. The only guy that I was really thinking about like that was Hunter, who of course has to be straight himself. Of course I think other guys around here are attractive, but not enough for me to be legitimately interested. I sigh, feeling somewhat frustrated with myself for some reason.

Hunter and I head back into the school a while later around the time where the other boys are all probably getting up. I head back into my dorm room after saying goodbye to Hunter. Sebastian is up and dressed neatly in his uniform, styling in his hair in the mirror. I look at him, a little bit worried about him. His eyes are blood shot and he has a sick look to him, despite how put together he appears from far away.

"Hey," I greet him, getting my clothes together, "How are you feeling?"

He glances over at me through the mirror, "A little tired, but I'm fine. I'm sorry I woke you up earlier, I'll be more quiet next time."

"It's okay," I reply with a small smile, "I went to bed really early yesterday, so it was totally fine. You don't look so good, though, you sure you're alright?"

He smirks, "Of course, if I couldn't handle it I wouldn't be out so late. I appreciate your concern, but seriously, I'm totally fine, don't even think about it."

"Sure." I reply, not convinced. I quickly change into my uniform, still struggling with tie.

Sebastian walks over to me and does my tie for me, "You'll get the hang of it eventually." He says with a smile, fixing my hair a little, too.

"Thanks." I reply, looking myself over in the mirror. I give him a warm smile, "You seem like really nice guy." I normally wouldn't just go out and say that, but judging by what Hunter told me, I don't get the feeling that hears that very much.

"You don't me very well, do you?" He replies cynically, "I'm one of the nastiest people you're gonna meet here. Well, second to Hitler Clarington."

I raise an eyebrow, "You don't like Hunter?"

He shakes his head, "We don't just call him Hitler because it rhymes. He's literally like a Nazi."

"He seems like a nice guy to me." I reply, making a slight attempt to defend him. I don't try very hard, though, after what Hunter had said about Sebastian earlier.

"You don't really know him, either, then, do you?"

"Why do you guys hate each other so much?" I ask, trying to understand their feud.

"I used to be Captain of the Warblers before Hunter came along. And I was really upset when I lost my position, but I had tried to give him a chance, anyway." He explains, "But then Hunter had the whole team taking steroids, and of course we all got busted. If our parents weren't all rich powerful people that gave all kinds of money to the school we would have been expelled. And even after the fact he still treats the whole team like dirt. There's a difference between working people really hard and just being a jerk."

"Oh," I mutter, "I guess that would make sense why you don't like him. What's his problem with you, though?"

"For one, I'm one of the only people that isn't afraid to stand up to him," he smirks, "And he's jealous that most of the team has more respect for me and think I was a much better Captain."

I nod, "Fair enough."

He sighs, taking one last look in the mirror, "Well I'm gonna head down and meet Nick in the cafeteria. Want to come?"

"Yeah, sure." I follow him downstairs, passing Hunter in the hallway. I smile at him, "Hey, Hunter."

His face softens when he looks at me, but he doesn't smile back, "Hi Jeff." He exchanges dirty looks with Sebastian as they pass each other.

Sebastian shakes his head at me as we enter the cafeteria, "You really don't want to be friends with him, Jeff. If he acts like he likes you even slightly it's only because he might be able to use you for something."

We sit down with Nick, who smiles and greets us both, "Good morning, how are you guys today?"

Sebastian shrugs, "Hungover, to be honest. I'm gonna grab a coffee, you guys want anything?"

I shake my head, "No, thank you."

Nick looks up at him as he stands up, "Can you get me one too?"

"Sure thing," Sebastian mutters as he walks off.

Nick looks over at me, "What about you? How was your first day yesterday?"

"It was pretty good, thanks." I answer brightly.

"I noticed you disappeared right after classes ended, but do you want to come to the Lima Bean with me and some friends later?"

"Sure," I answer pleasantly, "That sounds like fun. You guys drink a lot of coffee around here, huh?"

He nods, glancing over at Sebastian, "Some more than others, but yeah, I'd say that sounds about right."

We all head to class after breakfast. I walk into my first class of the day, ready to get another day rolling.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sebastian's P.O.V.**

The warblers as a whole are a little bit irritated when Jeff practically gets an automatic spot on the team. We wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't for the fact that Hunter already had his mind made up even before his audition. I mean, sure Jeff's a good singer and an even better dancer, I really think that he deserved it. But at the same time, we're all annoyed because some of us had to fight tooth and nail to get on the team. Jeff hadn't been at Dalton a week before he was accepted into the warblers, meaning he probably didn't even rehearse before his audition.

Jeff's sort of my friend so I can't have any hard feelings towards him, but a lot of the others are a little bit intimidated by his raw talent. This might sound bad in a way, but I feel a little more confident, partially because I know I'm better than him and also because he knows it, too. Truth be told, he's a lot better than he thinks that he is, but at the same time his lack of confidence will keep him in his place as the newbie of the group.

I see him in our dorm that night after his audition. He's lying down on his bed reading a book by himself. I walk in, taking my blazer off and tossing it on my bed, "Hey, Jeff. Congrats on making the team."

He puts his book down on the night stand and smiles over at me, "Thank you. Honestly I didn't think that I would make it on the first try, I was really surprised.

I smirk, "I wouldn't be too shocked if I were you, it would've have been impossible to not get in."

He furrows his eyebrows, "Why? What do you mean?"

I sigh, taking my shoes off, "Hunter really likes you. Unless all three of the councilmen really hated you, then of course you'd make the team. I know the decision wasn't his entirely, but Hunter had his mind before you even opened your mouth."

Jeff looks bothered and confused, "I thought Hunter didn't have a say in whether I got in or not."

I lie down on my bed, "What Hunter wants, Hunter gets. He could have easily been black mailing any of them."

He sighs, beginning to look really upset, "So you don't think that I should have made the team, do you?"

I shake my head, "No, of course I do. You're actually really talented, we were all really impressed. I'm just saying that you shouldn't be surprised because you still would've gotten in if you sucked royally."

"Oh..." he mutters, standing up, "Well, um, thanks. But um, I can't help but wonder, why would Hunter want me on the team so bad?"

"Like I mentioned the other day, he probably has something he wants to use you for. Don't trust him, because everyone knows that he doesn't just like you because he thinks you're nice."

"Right, um, thanks..." he mutters nervously, "Well, I'm gonna take a shower, I'll be back in a bit." He walks into the bathroom and shuts the door, a worried look on his face.

I feel a little guilty for making him feel bad, but at the same time I'm 90% sure that I was just telling the truth. I like Jeff, but I don't want to see him get too close to Hunter. Even if I hurt his feelings a little bit in the process, he'd get hurt a lot worse if he were to get too close to Hunter.

I get up and head down to Nick's room and walk in without bothering to knock. He's sitting down at his computer watching some kind of video. He pauses it and turns around, "Hey, Bas, what's up?"

I sigh, sitting down on his bed, "Wes isn't hiding somewhere, is he?"

He shakes his head, "No, he's in Thad and David's room, as usual. Why, what's on your mind?"

I make a guilty face, "I told Jeff that Hunter might have black mailed the councilmen into letting him on the team."

He looks appalled, "What? What's wrong with you? How could you say something like that? That's terrible!"

"Just relax, okay. I can explain."

He crosses his arms, "Okay, fine. Explain."

I sigh, "I don't trust Hunter with Jeff. Jeff seems like this really sweet, sensitive kid, and I don't want to see him get hurt."

He raises an eyebrow, "Then why the hell are you hurting him?"

"I told him that we were all really impressed and that he did deserve to make the team," I explain, "I just told him that Hunter could have done something about it so that he could use him for one of his evil schemes. And it probably is true. I mean, we could all tell just by the look on his face that Hunter knew beforehand that Jeff would make the team."

Nick shakes his head at me, "That's probably not true, the only reason people think that is because people like you are spreading it around. I don't trust Hunter either, but that doesn't mean you should make up rumors like that about him."

I roll my eyes, "Okay, mom."

He gives me a stern look, "It's not funny, Sebastian. You might have really hurt Jeff. He's our friend and I refuse to let him get in the cross fire between you and Hunter's 100 years war."

I purse my lips, "I get that, but why's that so important to you? You look legitimately pissed off."

"Because I care about Jeff!" He replies in a frustrated tone, "He's one of the sweetest people I've met, and I'm sure he's really sensitive. I don't want to see him get hurt under any circumstances. Don't pull anything like that ever again or I'll have to just tell him that you've been lying to him, and then he won't trust you anymore."

"Wow," I reply, "It seems you _really_ care about him. If I didn't know any better I would say you like him as more than just a friend..."

He sighs, "Yes, I do. So I'll be that much more vicious in protecting him from _anyone_ who would want to hurt him for any reason. And that's between you and me, by the way."

I nod, "Of course, Nicky, I wouldn't tell a soul, you know that. But fine, I'll check with you before I execute any of my genius plans that he might be involved in."

He rolls his eyes, "More like evil schemes."

"I used to always see myself as the antagonist," I mutter, "But that was before Hunter came along. Now I honestly feel like a misunderstood super hero, people think I'm evil, but I'm really just making sure the city is safe."

"Whatever you say, Bas." I mutters, shaking his head with a smile.

I shrug, "Word is on the street that Hunter wants Jeff, though. Like wants him, wants him, you know? Truth be told I've never bought that '_Not even remotely bi curious' _bullshit, but at the same time, I don't think he's capable of actually liking anyone."

Nick looks a little bit bothered, "Yeah, I don't really know what to think, honestly. I also heard that Jeff himself is actually straight, so..."

"Oh, yeah right," I reply in disbelief, "Have you seen his haircut? So totally 150% gay."

"I don't know. I mean, if he said that himself of course I believe him," he mutters, looking at the floor, "You never know around here, though. I'm just gonna cross my fingers that Hunter really is straight and Jeff isn't."

"Jeff is definitely gay. Maybe in the closet," I explain, eyebrows raised, "Either way, him honestly being a heterosexual is out of the picture. Trust me on this one Nicky. I'm an expert, remember?"

He shrugs, "I guess so."

"Yeah. It'll be fine, trust me." I get up and kiss him on the head, "I'm gonna check on Jeff, see you at breakfast?"

He nods, "Of course."

"Great. Goodnight!" I mutter and then head out of the room. I walk back down to my dorm and walk in.

Jeff's sitting down on his bed, a worried look on his pale face. He's still in his bath towel, staring down at the floor. He glances up at me, "Oh, hey, I was wondering where you went."

"I was just talking to Nick real fast." I take a seat next to him and put a hand on his bare shoulder, "Hey, I'm really sorry if I hurt your feelings. You really do deserve your spot on the team, everyone knows. Forget about what I said about Clarington and the blackmail, no one knows that for sure."

He looks up at me, "Thanks, I guess. Are you really saying that Hunter's not really that bad, though?"

"I'm not saying that," I reply, widening my eyes, "You really can't trust him. He really is evil. But don't sweat it, Nicky and I have got your back."

He nods, "Sure thank you. I'm gonna go throw some pjs on."

"Alright." I change while he does and we both climb into our beds. I sigh, looking out the window. I'm not sure how I feel about everything I said and then took back tonight. I guess it doesn't matter much, though. I know my intentions aren't all as good as I pretend they are, but I do what I have to. I really do have Jeff in my best interest, I don't want him to get hurt. But at the same time, I have other reasons for not wanting him to be with Hunter.

I really do believe that Hunter would hurt Jeff. I don't think that Jeff could handle him. But Jeff aside, Hunter is mine. Half the reason I hate him so much is because I can't have him. Sometimes I like to daydream that he hates me for the same reason, though I doubt that's true. Either way, I'll be damned if closet freak Clarington comes out to be with Jeff. Over my dead body will I allow him to be with another guy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Jeff's P.O.V.**

The following Monday Hunter sits next to me in History class. I smile over at him as he sits down, "Hey, what's up?"

"I was wondering the same thing about you, actually." I mutters, putting his books under his chair.

I raise an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?"

He nods, "Yeah. I was sort of looking for you over the weekend but I couldn't seem to find you anywhere. I mean, I know you're a bit of an introvert but damn, do you ever leave you dorm?"

I look around awkwardly, "Um, I don't know. Haha, I do sometimes, I did spend most the weekend studying."

"Sounds pretty dull. But I'm going to assume that if you don't have plans for the weekend that you're not gonna have any plans on a Monday, then right?"

I nod, "Um, yeah, I guess not."

"Unless you have more studying to do," He begins with his typical smirk, "I was wondering if you wanted to go and do something with me tonight?"

I shrug, "Um, yeah, sure, like what?"

"Like a date, I mean. Maybe dinner, a movie, I don't know. There's not much to do tonight which is why I was trying to catch you over the weekend."

"Like, what kind of date?" I ask, not wanting to get my hopes up too quickly.

He rolls his eyes, "What do you think of when you hear date, Jeff?" He shakes his head at me, "The kind of date where someone likes someone else in a potentially romantic mannerism and wants to go out and spend some time with them."

"Oh," I mutter, flattered and embarrassed at the same time, "Yeah, that sounds great. Sorry, I was just a little confused, cause you mentioned that you were straight the other day and-"

"I'm just as straight as you are," he says with his eyebrows raised, "And judging by the fact that you want to go on a date with me, I guess that's not very."

I run a hand nervously through my hair, "Yeah, right."

"Don't look so exasperated," he mutters, leaning back in his seat, "I obviously want you to be gay in this situation so you don't have to be embarrassed about it. I'm gay, too, as far as you're concerned, at least."

"Yeah, um, definitely."

"Oh god, Jeff!" he covers his face with his hands for a moment, "Relax, okay? I'm asking you on a simple date, and you didn't do anything wrong here, so just chill, and it wouldn't hurt to say something besides yeah."

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry," I mutter, feeling like a total idiot, "I'm just good at this kind of stuff."

He reaches over and pets me on the shoulder, "It's alright, buddy. Your moderate case of social retardation is kind of adorable."

My mind is totally in another world when class begins. I'm really happy about Hunter asking me out, but at the same time, he probably did it in one of the most offensive way possible. It's weird how many mixed messages that I got from him through him just clearly explaining everything. I sigh, holding my face up with my hand. Maybe I am pretty dumb.

After History class ends we head down to show choir practice. He pets me on the back as we walk down the hallway, "Are you okay?"

I nod, "Yeah, of course. Sorry, I'm just kinda slow, I guess. It's just my moderate social retardation."

"Wait," he says, a surprised look on his face, "You're not actually offended by that, are you? Cause I was just joking around. I would never want to date you if I actually thought you were any kind of mentally handicapped."

I force a smile, "No, I was just agreeing with you." I sigh, amused by how non charming a guy as popular as him can be.

After practice is over he heads over to me again, having barely looked at me since we first entered the room. "So," he mutters quietly, "I'll meet you outside of the building at 7?"

I nod, "Um, yeah, sure, sounds great."

Hunter walks out of the room with a few of the other boys while I head over to Nick and Sebastian. I smile at them, taking a seat, "Hey guys, what's up?"

Sebastian glances over as Hunter disappears out the doorway, "Nothing much, what were you guys talking about?"

"Oh nothing," I answer casually, not wanting to hear his disapproval right now, "He was just asking me about our History test tomorrow."

Nick shrugs, "Fair enough. You guys wanna hang out or something?"

Sebastian looks at me suspiciously for a moment and then turns back to Nick, "Yeah, sounds good to me."

The three of us head back to me and Sebastian's dorm and hang out for the afternoon. The later it gets, I try and think of a way to get out of here without telling them about my date with Hunter. I subtly grab some clothes and head into the bathroom to get changed. By then it's about 6:45 and I'm pretty short time. I pull on a pair of white skinny jeans and a black jacket, not having time to put a decent outfit together. I double check my hair in the mirror and walk back into the bedroom, "Well, um, I'm gonna catch you guys later." I mutter, not sure what to tell them exactly.

They both look over at me, puzzled looks on their faces. Sebastian raises an eyebrow, "Where are you going?"

I freeze, hand on the doorknob, "I was just gonna study with Hunter for our test tomorrow."

Nick narrows his eyes for a moment, "I'm not sure I'm buying it, but whatever."

Sebastian frowns, "Yeah, you're definitely lying. There'd be no logical reason to get changed if you were just studying. Well, I won't stop you but you're telling is what you're really doing when you get back. And I'm just gonna hope to god that it's not really gonna be with Hunter."

"Haha, sure," I mutter awkwardly, "I'll see you guys in a bit." I rush out the door as quickly as possible, grateful that I got only half busted. I head down the front door and step outside, looking around. Hunter's sitting on the steps, dressed in khaki pants and a sharp looking blazer. I bite my lip, hoping that I'm not too under dressed.

He stands up and looks over at me, "Hey, you really to go?"

I nod, "Yep. Where are we going?"

He shrugs, "I was just thinking dinner, unless you have something better in mind."

I shake my head, "No, dinner's good. You look nice, by the way."

He smirks as we walk over to his car, "You look like a punk, but in a good way. It suits you."

"Oh, haha, thanks, I think." I mutter as we get into the car.

"So, what kind of food do you like?" he asks as he drives out of the parking lot.

I shrug, "Whatever you like, I guess."

"You don't even know what I like," he mutters, "But okay."

He ends up taking me to a high end Italian restaurant that I feel even more under dressed in. We get a table and sit down. I look around the elaborate dining room, "Wow, this place is really nice."

"Yeah, it's one of the few good restaurants around here." He agrees nonchalantly.

We eventually get our food and start eating. Of course it's amazing, by far the best pasta I've had in a really long time, or probably ever. I look up at him, "Thank you, by the way, this is really nice."

He smiles, "I'm glad you like it. I guess I had to do something to impress you if I'm gonna get you to go on a second date with me."

I grin, "I was actually worried that you'd be the one who woudn't want that."

"Of course I would," he replies, an unusual softness in his voice, "I really like you, Jeff."

I can't help but blush a little bit, "I really like you, too."

"You know, this might be a little bit early, but hell with it," he mutters casually and then looks me straight in the eye, "Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"Oh my god, absolutely!" I exclaim happily as he holds my hand across the table.

We finish our supper and he holds my hand on the way back to the car, opening the door for me. I have trouble holding back my happiness, feeling overjoyed to be with him like this. He holds my hand on the way home, too, and I eventually lean my head on his shoulder. He walks me to dorm room at the end of the night.

I beam over at him as we reach the door, "Tonight was amazing."

He nods in agreement, "It really was."

He moves a little bit closer to me, holding the back of my head in his hand. He leans in and kisses me gently on the lips. I feel my heart jump up in my chest and I kiss him back. I can feel him smile under my lips before he eventually pulls away. "Have a good night, baby." He whispers, head still close to mine.

I smile at him, totally dazed, "You too."

He returns the smile and heads down the hallway to his own room. I sigh before I open my bedroom door and head inside. I tense up instantly when I see Sebastian and Nick looking all too casual, sitting down on the bed. Nick raises an eyebrow, "So...how was your date?"

I cover my face with him hands, embarrassed, "It was fine."

Sebastian smirks, "Looked like a pretty great ending for a study session, don't you think?"

I sigh, sitting down on bed, "What did you guys see?"

Nick smirks, "We saw you guys snogging each other right outside the door."

"Oh my god..." I mutter, "I'm just, I'm going to bed."

Sebastian raises his eyebrows, "You do that."

I change into my pajamas and head to bed after Nick heads back to his dorm. I pull my blankets over my head, still amazed and thinking about tonight. I can barely believe that he's really my boyfriend, it's the most incredible feeling in the world. I smile to myself, hugging my pillow as thoughts of Hunter daze me to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

News about Hunter and I had spread pretty far by just the next day. I can't be certain of who it was that spilled everything, though in the back of my mind I hope that it was Hunter. It wouldn't bother me so much if it was him, because he has a right to talk about it. But I doubt that it was him, more than like it was Sebastian. I love him to death, but he has a tendency towards gossip.

I haven't even made it to my first class before people start to ask me about it. I'm walking down to cafeteria for breakfast when Trent approaches me, "Hey, Jeff, how's it going?"

I look over at him pleasantly, "Pretty good, thanks. What about you?"

"Good," he answers plainly, "I heard about you and Hunter, though. Are the rumors true?"

I roll my eyes, "How can there already be rumors when it was barely 12 hours ago? And I don't know, it depends what you heard."

He grins mischievously, "I heard that you guys went out last night, and that he gave you a little more than a kiss goodnight."

I sigh, "It was just a kiss. That's it. But please don't spread it around, it's bad enough that you already know."

He nods, "Oh yeah, of course. That's why I came to you about it first. I won't bring it up to anyone."

"Thanks," I mutter with a smile small, and then look back over at it him, "Hey, um, while it's on subject, though, who told you that?"

"I hate to throw anyone under the bus..."

"It's not throwing them under the bus, I mean, it was true, pretty much. I'm not mad at them, I just want to know." I explain eagerly.

He nods, looking down for a moment, "It was Sebastian. He said he saw you and Hunter outside of your dorm last night."

"Okay," I mutter casually, "I kinda figured. It's all good, though."

He raises an eyebrow, "You sure about that?"

"Yeah absolutely," I reply, shaking it off.

I join Nick and Sebastian for breakfast like I always do, not sure what to say to them today. Nick smiles at me as I sit down, "Hey, Jeff, how's it going?"

"Fine, I guess. I'd be a little better if a certain someone wasn't spreading the details of my personal life all over the school..."

Our eyes both slowly drift to Sebastian, who's texting on his phone and not paying much mind to us. He looks up after a moment, "Wait, what?"

I roll my eyes, "Can you not tell everyone about me and Hunter?"

He gives me a half smile, "I won't tell anyone else, if that's what you mean."

I sigh, flopping my head down on the table, "Who have you already told?"

He makes a guilty face, "Honestly? Richard, Cameron, Trent, Flint, Thad..."

Nick looks at him in disbelief, "It's not even 8 o'clock!"

Sebastian shrugs, "You'd be surprised at how many people cross your path in a short amount of time."

I shake my head at him, "I really can't even believe you right now..."

Nick pets me on the back while Sebastian just rolls his eyes, "This isn't anything against you, Jeff. You should be proud, right? I'm just spreading it around because it's such a scandal on Hunter's part."

Nick frowns, "You will stop at nothing to take him down, huh?"

"I'm not trying to take him down," Sebastian says defensively, "I'm just being intelligent. I had this brilliant idea, if people know that Hunter's been lying about his sexuality, then maybe they'll think he's lying about other stuff. I mean, the possibilities are endless."

"You know, I've been trying really hard to be friends with you," I mutter, standing up, "But you are really a terrible person. Hunter's a lot better of a person than you give him credit for, or you would even probably admit if it were common sense. Just lay off him."

I get up and walk away from the table, sincerely upset with Sebastian. I understand that he doesn't get along with Hunter, but I can't let him use me as a way to get to him. It's not right and it's not fair. It's hard for me to put my foot down with my friends, or really even anyone, but sometimes I just have to suck it up and do it anyway.

Nick follows me out of the cafeteria and catches up with me in the hallway, "Hey, Jeff, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I mutter stiffly, "I'm just gonna sit by why my so called friend sits there and schemes all kinds of crap against my boyfriend. I really care about Hunter and I'm done trying to see the good in someone who clearly just doesn't have any."

"Hey," he replies, stopping me and moving off to the side, "There's a lot of bad blood between Hunter and Sebastian. And you have every right to be mad right now. I'll talk to him later, just don't let yourself honestly believe that he's a bad person, because he's not. He's misunderstood, and because of that, I'm probably his only close friend, don't give up on him..."

I raise my eyebrows, "That's funny, because I vaguely remember him telling me that one of the reasons that Hunter hates him so much is because he's jealous that everyone likes him better."

Nick sighs, running a hand through his hair, "That's not entirely true. I mean, a lot of people don't like Hunter, but they're not all that keen on Sebastian, either..."

I shake my head, "Why should I try so hard to give him a chance if he doesn't even want one, though?"

He puts a hand on my shoulder, "I'll talk to him. Just please don't shut him out..."

"Fine. But this is it, okay?" I reply sternly.

"Yeah, thank you. I gotta get to class, I'll see you around."

I sigh as I watch him walk off down the hall, staying where I am for a moment.

I can't help but notice Hunter pay little mind to me most of the day. He barely says hi to me in passing, which normally would be fine, but after last night is a little bit concerning. He doesn't sit with me in History and he only gives me a nod of acknowledgement when he enters the room.

I walk up beside him on our way to show choir practice, "Hey, um, are you okay?"

He glances over at me, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You seem a little off," I comment with a slight frown, "I don't know..."

He sighs, a frustrated look on his face, "If you're upset about what I think you are, then I guess it's just because I want to keep us under the radar. People around here are vultures and I don't want them thinking up all these ridiculous things about either one of us."

"So, you mean you don't want to let anyone know we're together?" I reply sadly.

"It's not that," he argues, "People already know about us. I just don't want to publicize our relationship. Things will go a lot smoother if they're between you and me and there isn't a third party that knows anything about it."

I nod, "Yeah, I guess so. So are we just going to act like we're not dating even though everyone knows that we are?"

He sighs, "Well, no, but-"

"Cause that's what you've been doing." I look down at the floor and then back to him, "It's fine. Don't worry about it." I quickly speed ahead of him, not wanting to talk about it any further.

"Jeff, wait..." He calls from behind me, but he doesn't bother chasing after me.

The rest of the day goes by rather miserably, being at odds with both Sebastian and Hunter. I head down to Nick's dorm room around five, having no where else to turn.

Wes opens the door, a pleasant smile on his face, "Hey, Jeff, how are you?"

"Pretty good," I answer with a grimace, "Is Nick around by any chance?"

"He's in the shower but he should be out soon. Come in." He opens the door wider and moves out of the way. I sit quietly on Nick's bed while Wes reads silently on his with a pair of headphones in.

Nick walks out of the bathroom a few minutes later in a towel, "Hey, Jeff, what's up?"

I sigh, "Nothing really. Honestly I was hoping I could talk to you about some stuff. I'm kinda hurting and you're the only person I feel like I can trust."

"Sure thing," he replies, grabbing some clothes, "I'm just gonna throw some clothes on."

He's in and out of the bathroom relatively quickly and takes a seat beside me, "So what's on your mind?"

"Well, you know about what's up with Sebastian, and now Hunter's acting weird."

"Weird like how?" He asks with legitimate interest.

"He's all hyped up about us being super private about our relationship. He didn't say this, but I'm pretty that if people didn't already know that we were together he would probably want to keep a secret altogether."

He pets my on the back, "I'm sorry. I'm not gonna tell what you should or shouldn't do in your relationship, but just don't let him push you into doing things in a way that you don't want to, okay?"

I nod, "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I told him it was fine but we didn't even finish talking about it really."

"Well, if you want my advice, then I suggest you finish talking about it. It's never fun but it's really necessary."

"You're probably right. Thank you."

I talk to Nick for a while and we eventually go out for a walk with Wes until it gets dark. At the end of the day I head back to my dorm, relieved to see that Sebastian isn't around. I don't sleep very well that night, stressed out about everything that happened from the moment that I had woken up.


	6. Chapter 6

((Hey guys, just so you know I probably won't be able to post as frequently as I have been. I'm sure I'll still post new chapters a couple of times a week, but probably not like every day like I have been. Thanks for reading!))

**Sebastian's P.O.V.**

Nick felt bad that Jeff was upset about everything that happened on Tuesday so later in the week he offers to take him out to just relax for the night. They invite me to come with them but of course I decline. I feel like I'm half of Jeff's problem and going out with them would seem a little redundant. It's not much fun just hanging out alone, though. Thad's not around so I have no one to go clubbing with, and of course Nick isn't here, so it's pretty lonely.

I eventually leave my dorm when I cross paths with none other than Mr. Hunter Clarington. I immediately look down, trying not to make eye contact. He stops, "Hey, Sebastian, what's eating you."

I sigh, looking up at him, "As if you care."

He rolls his eyes, "Truth be told, I care more than you probably think that I would. See, as captain it's my job to make sure that all my teammates are at the top of their game so they perform at their best." He puts his arm around me as we continue to walk, "So, what's the matter?"

"I'll perform, just fine, like I always do. I don't want to discuss my problems with someone who will use them against me."

He pets me on the back, "I don't hate you, despite popular belief."

I raise an eyebrow, "Oh really? Because that's not what you're little boyfriend told me."

He sighs, "I don't know what Jeff told you, but just listen to what I'm saying right now, I don't actually hate you. Despite how much you despise me, I've always been happy to put up with you for some reason. Why do you hate me so much, anyway? Is it jealousy?"

I shake my head, "I'm not jealous of you, Hunter. Maybe in your dreams. I think you're a pretty terrible person."

He smirks, "I find that borderline hilarious coming from you. You pride yourself on being the most self centered, snarky, flat out meanest person in the entire school."

"At least I'm honest about it," I retort, getting offended, "I don't pretend to be someone I'm not."

"Oh yeah? I assume you mean like me when you say that. So enlighten me, how am I pretending to be someone that I'm not."

I almost laugh out loud, "Well, last I checked, if you were as straight as you pretended to be, you wouldn't be making out with Sterling. And if you really are, then that's even more twisted. Not to mention you playing the whole, 'I care about how people feel' card."

He shakes his head at me, "I wasn't interested in guys when I said that I wasn't interested in guys. Things change, people change. I never lied about who I was. And I really do care, Sebastian, you just have this opinion cemented into your mind that I'm the bad guy all the time. I feel bad for you sometimes, I really do."

I get to a whole new level of anger after his last statement, "You feel bad for me? I don't want anyone's fucking pity. I'm fine, and anyone who thinks otherwise is just stupid."

He backs up a little bit, a little surprised, "Just, relax, okay? I'm not trying to hit home with you. If you have issues that you're too scared to tell anyone about it, that's fine. I'm just tired of you being pissed at me for things that aren't my fault. I'm here if you want to talk, but I'm not putting up with your shit anymore."

I sigh, "Look, maybe I have issues, maybe I don't. But I don't like you because I don't like_ you. _It's not a personal problem, I promise."

He pulls me into his dorm, not wanting to hear us fighting in the hallway, "Fine. If you're sure, than we can deal with this here and now, cause I'm so over fighting with you all the time. What's your problem?"

I shake my head, "Okay! Okay, I'm sorry, just forget it? I'll stay out of your hair, I won't even mention your name. I, I need to go."

I try to walk back out the door, but he blocks me with his arm. "It's alright," he says calmly, "We need to talk about this."

I walk to the other side of the room, "I can't, Hunter, I really can't."

He follows me and sits me down on his bed, "Hey, hey, it's okay, just relax. It's alright."

I close my eyes and for a fraction of a second, everything is perfect. I'm alone with Hunter and we're not screaming at each other. His arms are gently around me, and for that short moment, nothing hurts.

I quickly snap back into reality, "I don't want to tell you, it's really personal, it'll just make things worse."

He puts a hand on my knee, "Just tell me. If it's really that bad than I'll just do my best to forget about it."

I hesitate for a moment. I feel like I could lose everything, but then I realize that I don't have much of anything to begin with. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him hard on the lips.

I flinch, expecting him to instantly shove me away. But he doesn't. He pulls me into his arms, holding the back of my head as he kisses me back. Neither of us allow ourselves to think for a minute, and we both close our eyes and lose ourselves in each other.

When he finally lets me go, it hurts like hell. I get shivers up and down my body and everything feels horrible again. I look over at him, his eyes are looking downwards, a totally serious expression on his face.

He eventually looks back at me, but stays quiet.

Unable to bear the silence, I speak, "Hunter, I, I'm so sorry, I just-"

He puts a finger to my lips, silencing me, "Shh, it's alright, Sebastian."

I stare at him disbelief, "You're...you're not mad at me?"

He shakes his head, "How could I be? I used to want you, more than anything, but I didn't think I had a chance. I mean, you hated me so much. Normally I wouldn't have let that stop me, but with you, I don't know, it just felt so hopeless."

"That's ironic..." I reply sorrowfully, "That's pretty much exactly how I've felt this entire time. I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry, too." He mutters, pulling me back into his arms.

There's a short moment where we stare into each other's eyes before we kiss again. This time it's more intense, mouths open, hands all over each other's bodies. Before I know it, he's frantically pulling his shirt off as we drift into a lying position. I look nervously up at him, "Are you sure that this is what you want?"

He nods, "Yeah it is. Just shut up, though, okay?"

"Sure." I mutter as we continue to help each other undress. He pins me down to the bed when we're both completely naked and kisses me again. We don't bother with much foreplay, just enough to get us both going. We kiss tenderly as I feel him slowly start to penetrate me. I grab the back of his neck as he pushes in further, jolts of pain and satisfaction rushing throughout my body.

Hunter doesn't waste time and quickly gets his full length in, pushing hard into me with a steady motion. I need a moment to get myself together before I can give much back to him, but the second I can I start fucking back.

He kisses me on the cheek while gripping both my shoulders tightly. My body feels like it's going to explode, adrenaline rushing through my veins. He kisses me again, on the lips this time, "A little faster, okay?" he mutters through heavy breaths.

I nod and do my best to get to a quicker pace, just barely able to keep up with him. By the time he finally cums I'm ready to collapse, aching from head to toe. He comes to a complete stop and pecks me on the lips before he climbs off me. Sharp pains hit my stomach as he pulls out. I squirm into a ball and he pulls me into his arms.

"Are you alright?" He asks after a moment, stroking my hair.

I nod, "Yeah, I think so, at least. Are you?"

He sighs, turning onto his back and pulling my up against his side, "Yeah, you were amazing."

I smile a little bit, "So were you."

He grins, "I'm not gonna lie, I feel so much better now. There was just so much tension between us, it feels great to finally clear the air."

"Yeah," I mutter in agreement, "I feel better and worse at the same time, though."

"What do you mean worse?" He asks, caressing my cheek with his thumb, "What's the matter?"

"I hate the bring this up, but we both know that we have to talk about it." I pull a blanket over us, "I mean, what now?"

He closes his eyes for a moment, frustrated, "I love you. But I really care about Jeff, too. I, I can't hurt him..."

"So you love me and not him but you're staying with him?" I ask calmly.

"For now," he replies irritably, "I don't know what to do right now, so my best bet is to just not do anything too important right now."

"So is that what this was, unimportant?" I say sadly.

"I don't mean it like that. What I meant to say was that I shouldn't make any major decisions right now."

I frown, "So what you meant that having sex with me wasn't important."

"That's not what I mean and you know it!" he replies, starting to get angry, "I thought you wanted that as much as I did, seriously, what the hell..."

I sigh, "No, I wanted that, too. When I thought that it would mean something to you."

"Since when does Sebastian Smythe have a problem with casual sex?"

I sit up and quickly pull my clothes on, "So you're admitting it, then? That was just casual sex, didn't mean a thing!"

He grabs my arm before I can climb out of bed, "No, Bas, wait. That was a dumb thing to say. I didn't mean it. I love you. I really do. Things are just kinda complicated right now and I'm not leaving my boyfriend right away."

I shake my head, tugging my arm away from him, "I'm not putting up wit this bullshit. You don't love me, you just wanted me to believe that so that I'd sleep with you. You know that wasn't even necessary, though, because remember, I give it up to just about anyone!" I slide back into my shoes and head for the door, "You've been dating Jeff for less than a week, if you really loved me you wouldn't have the slightest issue with breaking up with him!" I slam the door on my way out, not waiting for any response from him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Jeff's P.O.V.**

I can't help but notice Sebastian has been acting weird ever since I got home tonight. He seems like he's upset about it, but he's unusually careful to not direct any of his anger towards me. There's a strange softness in his voice when he says anything to me, even it's just something as simple as "Can you pass me a book?"

I glance over at him as I'm climbing into bed. He's sitting on the side of bed, hands covering his face. "Are you alright?" I ask, worried about him.

He looks back at me, "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" I persist, "Look, I'm sorry that I snapped at you the other day."

He shakes his head, "That's got nothing to do with it."

"No. Just stay out of it, okay?"

I sigh, flopping my head back down and turning around.

It turns out that Sebastian isn't the only one acting weird. The next few days, Hunter is abnormally affectionate towards me. He holds my hands in the halls, spends as much time with me as possible, and even kisses me in front of other people. Of course it makes me happy, but at that time it has me thinking that something might be up.

Later in the week I knock on his door after practice, hoping that he's around. Flint, his roommate opens the door. "Um, hey, are you looking for Hunter?"

I nod, "Yeah, is he around?"

He glances over his shoulder and then looks back at me, "He's um, he's pretty busy, but he wants you to come back at 8."

"Um, yeah, sure..." I mutter, wandering back down the hallway.

I then to Nick's room to see what he's up to. I don't bother knocking on his door anymore, having grown relatively close with both him and Wes. I walk in and look around. Nick is doing some kind of writing assignment on his bed and Wes is no where to be seen. He looks up at me, pushing his work aside, "Hey, Jeffie, what's up?"

I shrug, "Not much. Everyone's acting weird." I take a seat next to him.

He nods, "Yeah, I noticed that, too. At least with Sebastian. He's been really standoffish the last few days and he won't tell me why. Which is really frustrating because he knows that he can trust me with anything, and he's clearly hiding something."

"Yeah," I agree, "And Hunter's acting weird, but in totally the opposite way."

He raises his eyebrows with interest, "How so?"

"Well, it's in a good way so I don't want to question it, you know?" I begin casually, "But he's been like really nice and affectionate towards me. Which I wouldn't think twice about, but after the way he was treating me last week it seems like a little weird."

Nick shrugs, "Hopefully all it is is that he realized that he was treating you wrong and now he's trying to make up for it. He's a better person than Bas gives him credit for, you know?"

I nod, "Well, yeah. I hope that's all it is. That would be pretty great."

He gives me a small smile, "Don't sweat it, okay? It's probably nothing to worry about, mkay?"

"Yeah." I mutter, pulling him into a hug, "I don't know what I would do without you, Nicky."

"Probably make a lot of terrible decisions and have no one to tell about them." He chuckles.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." I let him go and lean back, "I feel like we always talk about me and my problems. What about you?"

"You know I like talking about other people's problems. I don't know why but I've been like that." He replies sweetly.

"Well sure, but still, that doesn't mean that you don't ever need someone to vent to about stuff."

"I'm pretty good," he mutters, "The only thing I'm really worried about is Sebastian."

I sigh, "Do you have even an ounce of selfishness in you?"

"Sure I do," he says, shaking his head, "I'm not a saint."

"You might as well be, Saint Nicky has a nice ring to it."

He rolls his eyes, "Oh god, don't go there."

"You need some kind of recognize for being the best friend imaginable." I argue.

I spend the rest of the afternoon talking to Nick, trying to get him to open up about himself a little bit. He tells me a few things, but nothing major. I guess I didn't really expect him to. I head back to Hunter's room around eight like Flint had said.

I knock on the door and Hunter opens it instantly, a wide grin on his face, "Hey babe. Right on time."

"Yeah, I guess." I reply with a shrug, "What's going on?"

"I thought I'd do some special for us, I have a good feeling about tonight, you know?"

"Oh, wow, okay." I mutter nervously as I walk into the room.

Everything is perfectly neat and in place, with vanilla scented candles all around the room. He shuts the light off and the room is almost as bright with just the candles. He smiles over at me, "Well, come on, lie down with me."

I do as he says, but there's a knot in my stomach. I appreciate what he's trying to do here, it's really thoughtful, I just hope it's not for what I'm assuming it is. I'm not nearly ready for that but after all of this it would be twice as hard to explain that to him. He pulls me into his arms, still grinning, "So...what do you think?"

I grimace, "It's um, it's really beautiful. I wasn't expecting this at all."

"I figured you weren't," he comments with a smirk, "But um, do you like it?"

"Of course, I'm just a little confused. Like, where'd all this come from?"

"I wanted to make this really special."

I feel my heart sink to my stomach but I try to keep a straight face, "Make what really special?"

"What do you think, babe?" He asks, gently moving my bangs out of my face.

"Um, I don't know. This is pretty out of nowhere."

His expressions shifts from calm and romantic to worried and a little bit frustrated, "Well, I was hoping we could do it tonight."

I try to look relaxed, "Oh wow, um, oh my god..."

He raises an eyebrow, "You do want to, don't you?"

"I don't know." I reply nervously, "It's not that I'm interesting in doing this with you eventually, but this is just kinda, soon, you know?"

He rolls his eyes, "Who cares? We're in love, that's all that matters, right?"

I give him a half smile, "Well, yeah. It's just that, I've never really, you know, before..."

"You mean you're a virgin?" He guesses, a surprised look on his face.

I nod, "Yeah. I'm a virgin, and I'm really nervous about this. I, I don't think I'm ready for this."

He pulls me closer to him, "It'll be alright, babe. We can start out really slow. I'll be super gentle with you."

"I don't know if I can do this right now, Hunter, I'm really sorry..."

"Shhh," he consoles me, "It'll be fine. I promise. Just relax."

I feel myself getting more and more worked up by the second, but I keep my mouth shut. He pulls my shirt off slowly and pulls me into a kiss. I do my best to kiss him back but I'm panicking in my mind. He puts his hands on my torso tenderly, slipping his tongue in between my quivering lips. I try and keep myself together but I lose it when he slides his hand in between my pants and my underwear. I jump backwards in a frenzy, pulling my shirt back on, "I'm sorry, I, I don't think I can do this..."

He wraps his arms around me and before I know it I'm shaking and hyperventilating. He strokes my hair, trying to calm me down, "Sweetie, Jeff, calm down. It's alright. It's okay. We don't have to have sex if you're this terrified right now..."

I pull away from him, having trouble catching my breath, "I'm, I'm really sorry... I should g, go..."

He tries to keep me there with him but I rush out of the room and back to mine. I break down on floor by my bed, having a full on panic attack. Sebastian, who I hadn't even realized was in the room, jumps to my side, immediately petting me on the back, "Hey, hey, Jeff, what's going on? Are you alright?"

"N-not really..." I manage to stutter through frantic sobs, "Just, don't mind me right now..."

He helps me get up onto my bed and consoles me until I start to calm down. When I finally stop shaking, he gets up and makes me a hot cup of tea. He sits down beside me again, "Are you gonna be okay?"

I nod, "Yeah, thank you. I just had a little bit of an anxiety attack or something. I'll be fine."

He sighs, watching me with concern, "Can I ask why?"

I shake my head, "Not right now. I don't feel like talking right now."

"Alright. Do want to watch a movie or something?"

"Sure."

He gives me another worried look before he turns the TV on and puts on some brainless comedy.

I cuddle up under the covers with my tea on the night stand. I almost told Sebastian what happened, but I know that he would probably blame it all on Hunter. There's a lot of stuff that he doesn't know, but there's also a lot of stuff I don't feel comfortable telling him. Sebastian and I are friends again, I suppose, but I don't trust him all that much. I feel like I can rely on him for some things but I don't have faith that he could ever keep a secret. And as far as Hunter is concerned, I'm not upset with him in the slightest. Sure, it would have been nice if just took 'no' for an answer right away, but he didn't do anything wrong. Truth be told I feel like I can depend a lot more on Nick than Hunter or Sebastian, though.


	8. Chapter 8

I head straight to Nick the next morning, still feeling shaken up after last night. It's Saturday, so I hope he's still around. I walk into his dorm room and look around. Wes is long gone like I figured he would be, but Nick is still curled up in his bed, half asleep. I climb into bed with him and snuggle up under the warm blankets. He blinks a few times and pulls me into his arms, "Hey, Jeffie, what's up?" he asks drowsily.

"Nothing, just miss you..." I mutter quietly.

He smiles, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I pull his arms around me and close my eyes.

"Are you sure that you're alright? Oh, and how did things go with Hunter last night?"

"Fine," I answer plainly, "Well, I don't know, they could have been worse, I guess. I still need to talk to him about everything."

He rolls me over so that we're facing one another, "What do you mean? Did something happen?"

I take one of his hands in mine, "Well, sort of. He wanted to have sex, and I was really, like overly nervous about it. I half way agreed to it but had a panic attack before we got very far..."

"Oh my god, are you alright?" He asks, immediately alert.

I nod, "Yeah, I guess I'm fine. I just feel kinda bad about it, you know?"

"You shouldn't feel bad, you didn't do anything wrong..." he consoles gently, "Do you know why you had a panic attack?"

"I just got scared, I guess. It's like I really wanna please him, but I just wasn't ready."

"Are you sure that's all? You can tell me, whatever it is..."

"It's nothing," I reply quickly, "I just got overly nervous. I'm kinda prone to panic attacks, it's not the first time..."

He looks at me silently for a long moment, worry in his clear green eyes.

I snuggle up closer to him, "It's fine, I promise."

He sighs, "Well, alright, I guess. But Hunter wasn't like, pushy with you, was he?"

I shake my head, "No, he was really nice about it. I mean, he was really intent on convincing me, but I know he wouldn't push me to do anything I wouldn't want to."

He nods, "I'm glad to hear that. I just want to make sure you're safe, you know?"

I smile warmly at him, "God, you're such a sweet heart, Nicky."

He shrugs, "You just mean a lot to me. It's only natural for someone to care about the people that they're close to."

"Well, I think you should know how much you mean to me," I explain seriously, "I never realized this until last night, but you're really my best friend. I trust you more than anyone else in the world, even Hunter. I'm so lucky to have you in my life."

"That makes me really happy to hear that, I'm glad to know that you trust me so much."

Wes walks into the room just as Nick is finishing up his sentence. He smiles over at us, "Hey, guys, still in bed?"

Nick smirks, sitting up, "Well, Jeff came in here a few minutes ago so I guess he's been up. I've really slept in today, though."

I raise an eyebrow, "It's barely 9..."

Wes shakes his head, "Yeah, that's crazy late. Haha, I'm even a little behind schedule today." he grabs some clothes and heads into the bathroom.

Nick rolls his eyes, digging through his closet, "Wes is an early bird. He's usually up and out by 5 on weekend for his morning yoga sessions with Thad and David. It's pretty crazy if you ask me."

"Yeah, that's an understatement." I agree, climbing back out of bed, "I'm not even out of bed by 6 on school days..."

Nick shrugs, "Yeah, I used to think I was a morning person before I started rooming with a councilman. It's pretty nuts."

"Hunter's a morning person," I comment casually, "He gets up at dawn to go running and stuff. I guess that would explain why he's in better shape than I am."

"You look just fine, don't even go there." he replies, changing into a t shirt.

I check him out as he changes across the room, "That's coming from you, you've got to be at least 60% muscle..."

"No way," he denies modestly, "I've just got a bulkier build, I guess."

"That's not just a bulky, Nick, you're totally jacked."

"Ah, whatever." he mutters, pulling his sneakers on, "Thanks for the compliment, though."

I smirk, "Just telling it how it is. Hey, um, are you doing anything today?"

"Maybe," he replies, slicking his hair back, "Sebastian and I were thinking about catching a movie or something later tonight. You want to come?"

"I don't know, I need to talk to Hunter at some point. I think I'm gonna go find him, but I'll catch up with you later?"

He nods, "Yeah, sounds like a plan."

I shoot another grin in his direction before I leave the room and go looking for Hunter. I eventually find him in the school library with Flint and Richard, probably working on some kind of homework. I sit down next to him, nodding at the other two boys in acknowledgement. Hunter looks over at me, pushing his notebook, "Hey, Jeff, I was gonna actually come looking for you soon. I figured I'd let you sleep in if you wanted to, though. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. I actually was hoping I could talk to you for a minute. You know, about what happened last night."

"Yeah, sure." He shoots a look at the other boys and they get up, rolling their eyes at him. My boyfriend turns back to me as his friends walk away, "I've been really worried. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better," I begin with a sigh, "I feel really bad about freaking out like that. I just, I just get really worked up when I get too nervous, I guess. I'm sorry."

He puts a hand on my knee, "I was just worried that they're might be something else-"

"There isn't." I assert quickly.

"Oh, um, okay.." he mutters, backing off a little bit, "Well, I'm sorry if I did anything to trigger that. I didn't push you too much or anything, did I?"

"No, of course not. You didn't do anything wrong in the slightest. I should've warned you before hand about my, erm, issue."

He bites his lip, a look of disbelief on his face, "Um, yeah, well sure. It's all good with me if it's all good with you."

"Yeah, it's um, it's totally cool." I reply, getting up out of my seat, "I will, um, I'll let you when I'm, you know, ready and whatnot, I guess, when the time comes."

"Yeah, great." He replies with a nod.

"Great, catch you later." I mutter, turning and walking off, but stopping in a nearby isle of books to spy when he isn't watching me anymore.

Richard and Flint walk back over and sit back down in their seats. "Well, that was weird..." Flint mutters, looking at Hunter.

Hunter gives both of them the evil eye, "The idea of you guys leaving wasn't so that you could just eavesdrop on our conversation, you know."

Richard smirks unapologetically, "Well, you've been off all morning, we couldn't pass up a golden opportunity to figure out why."

Hunter glares irritably at him, "You couldn't have asked, you know."

Flint rolls his eyes, "We did, actually. And go figure, all you told us was that you were fine and that there was nothing going on."

"Well, it's a really private matter."

"We're your best friends, Hunt," Richard explains, petting him on the back, "There's nothing that you can't tell us. Besides, if we didn't know, we wouldn't be able to tell you that it definitely looks like Jeff is holding back from telling you something that's probably important."

"Well thanks, genius. There's no way I would've been able to figure that one out." Hunter snaps sarcastically, "Ugh, as though I don't have enough issues on my plate right now."

"Like what?" Flint asks, concerned.

"Never mind..."

Richard shakes his head, opening up a notebook up, "And this is why we have to eavesdrop on your conversations..."

The three of them resume there schoolwork and I sneak out of the library through the back exit. I can't help but worry about what Hunter's 'other issues' are. If he won't tell his friends I'm sure he's not gonna tell me. I sigh, heading back to my dorm room for some quiet that I can think in for a while. I walk inside, and plop down on my bed. It is was too early in the day to have this much on mind.

I feel like there's this massive disconnect between Hunter and I. But the more I think about it, it's at least half way my own fault. I have been really vague with him, about everything. I just wouldn't want to make him feel guilty about anything. He's so far out of my league that I have try ten times as hard to keep him. Sure, he hasn't done anything to make me believe that he might leave me, but I can't be too comfortable. But us being so closed up and kept so deep inside ourselves certainly doesn't help anything.

Sebastian walks into the room, a cup of coffee in his hand and a tired expression on his face. He takes a seat and stared awkwardly at me for a moment, "How are you?"

I sit up a little bit, "I'm um, I'm a lot better. Thanks for taking care of me last night, by the way."

He crosses his legs, "Don't mention it, I'm sure you'd do the same for me."

I smile, "Yeah, of course."

He raises his eyebrows, "So, um, are you okay to talk about it now, or?"

"Well, um, I don't think that'll really be necessary now. I've sorted everything out, it's over with."

"I'm not sure I buy that," he comments, getting up to check his hair in the mirror, "You were way too wound up to be over it 12 hours later. But whatever, keep it to yourself."

I sigh, doing my best to shake it all off, "So, um, are you going out with Nick tonight or?"

"Yeah, I think so." he answers coolly, "Were you gonna come with?"

"I guess so..."

"Cool." he mutters, taking a sip of his coffee, "Well, um, I'll see you then."

"Yeah, see ya..." I reply as he walks back out the door.

I feel guilty for a moment, getting the feeling that the only reason he came in was to talk to me. More than ever am I started to understand what Hunter meant when he called me socially challenged. I shouldn't even be allowed to talk to other people, it's just embarrassing at this point. I waste some time throwing a decent outfit together to wear tonight. As awkward as I think hanging out with Sebastian will be, I really need something to get my mind of this unspoken issue that's going on between Hunter and I. Running out of things to do, I leave my dorm room to search for other ways to kill my time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sebastian's P.O.V.**

Being stressed out and upset by recent events, I bail on Nick and Jeff at the last minute, staying home instead of going to the movies with them. I have a feeling that Jeff doesn't really want me to go anyway, and with good reason. If he knew what was really going on, he'd dislike me a lot more than he already does.

Ever since we slept together last week, all I've thought about is Hunter. I hate myself so much for being in love with him and I hate myself even more for letting him know about it. I'm ashamed of myself for about a million reasons, but's he's the root of just about all of them. Coming up with no better solution on my own, I decide it might be time to talk to him about it. Besides, it's difficult avoiding him when we have three classes together as well as show choir.

I walk abruptly into his room and sit down on his bed, where he's lying down and talking to Flint. Oblivious to the fact that I was being rude and interrupting them, I turn to Hunter, "I need to talk to you. Meet me in my room in five minutes. Don't be late." Both boys stare awkwardly as I get up and walk out of the room as quickly as I came. I walk back to my dorm, hoping that he comes.

I pace back and forth across my room nervously while I wait for him, looking at the clock every 30 seconds. He walks in no more than 2 minutes early, closing the door quietly behind him, "You wanted to see me?"

I nod as we both sit down, "Yeah. As easy as it would be, we can't just pretend last week never happened. I've been upset with you, but..."

He rests a hand on my thigh, "But...?"

I sigh, eyes drifting down to the floor, "But that doesn't change the way that I feel about you. And I know you feel the same. Not just because you said it, but I mean, I could feel it..."

"You're right," he agrees soberly, "I've been wanting to talk to you for days, but I always felt wrong, you know? I felt like I didn't have the right to even bring it up..."

"Yeah, I guess I see what you mean, but this needs to be addressed. I can't live like this..." I look up at him, pain filling my eyes, "I care about Jeff, he's my friend. I don't want to see him get hurt. Selfish reasons aside, it's not right for you to be with him if you're in love me. Everyone's just gonna get hurt in the end, you know that's true..."

"I'm going to break up with him eventually. I'm just waiting for the best time, you know? I'm hoping that we can maybe just sorta drift apart and he won't have to feel a thing..."

I raise an eyebrow, "Then how come you've been getting so much closer to him lately?"

He sighs, "I felt guilty for cheating on him. I was subconsciously trying to make it up to him, I guess. But you're right, you're right, that was a pretty dumb move."

I grab his hands in a frantic motion, "If you need time, fine. But I, I don't think I can stand being away from you. It's eating me away inside. I, I'm scared that I really need you..."

He pulls me into his arms instantly, "I love you, Bas. I love you so much. Just hang in there a while longer, okay?"

I shake my head, pulling away a little, "I don't think I can, Hunt. Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to be with you? And now that I know what it's like, I just, I just can't stand it."

He kisses me gently on the lips, "Then be with now. Just, in secret until I can let Jeff down easy. It would kill him to know the truth. I, we can't do that to him."

I nod, "Okay, fine. I'll take what I can get. But try and be quick about it. And um, just don't have sex with him, okay?"

"Trust me, I'm not going to have sex with him." He replies, an exasperated tone in his voice.

I raise an eyebrow, "Why do you say it like that? I mean, did something happen?"

He bites his lip, "We almost had sex last night, but then he freaked out and ran off. I talked to him this morning and he said that everything's fine, but I don't really know."

I frown a little bit, "Yeah, that would explain a lot. He was having a panic attack last night. It was pretty bad but he never would tell me why. Why did you try to have sex with him, anyway?"

"I don't know..." he mutters, sounding troubled, "The same reason that I've been trying to get closer to him all week. I guess I thought that if I had sex with him it would somehow make up for having sex with you... I mean, I thought that I had ruined my chances with you, I thought you were done with me."

I sigh, putting my hand on his shoulder, "It's okay. We all make mistakes. I can't blame you for that, I totally shoved you away last week."

He wraps his arm my waist and pulls me into his lap, "Speaking of which, are you still mad about that?"

"I guess not." I mutter quietly, "As long as you promise you and Jeff will be over soon."

"Of course."

I smile, giving him a small peck, "Then I guess we're totally fine."

He lies down, positioning me beneath him, "So, um, what time do you think Nick and Jeff will be home?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure, but they've already been gone over two hours, so I don't think we should try anything now..." I reply, bumming that we can't really do anything right now.

He kisses me on the cheek, "You don't think we have even like, fifteen minutes?"

"Better safe than sorry." I giggle, pushing him off me and sitting back up.

He pulls me up against me, kissing all over my neck, "What if we go into my room?" he asks in between kisses.

"What about Flint?" I ask, one hand on his back.

He frowns a little bit, taking his mouth off me, "Ugh, this really sucks. I mean, I could probably get rid of him, but he would definitely suspect that something is up, you know?"

I roll my eyes, "As amazing as it is, we don't have to have sex. Unless that's all your in this for..."

He shakes his head, putting his arms around me, "Of course not. Speaking of which, you're not allowed to go out and find strangers to fuck anymore, just so you know."

"Duh," I reply, leaning my head on his shoulder, "As ass backwards as all of this is right now, I think some basic relationship rules apply."

A wide grin spreads across his face. I look over at him, a little confused, "What?"

"What?"

"What's that smile for?"

He sighs, petting my hair, "I don't know, I guess I'm just not used to the term 'relationship' applying to us."

"Well you'd better get used to it." I comment with a laugh, "Cause you're not getting rid of me anytime soon."

"'Course not." He replies with a sloppy kiss.

"Okay, that's enough of that." I murmur, standing up, "You should probably get of here, your boyfriend could be back soon."

He gets up, too, but pulls me right back into his arms, "I'm not sure how I feel about you calling all the shots around here. You're awfully demanding, you know."

I give him a tender kiss on his soft lips, "You'll learn to love it. You knew before we got into this that I was almost as much of a tyrant as you are."

"Almost." he agrees, returning the kiss, "Meaning I'll still have the upper hand."

I squirm out of his arms, "You're the leader in show choir, I can take the lead when we're alone."

He tackles me onto the bed, "Nice try, but not in a million years."

I shove him off again, "Yeah, whatever. You should seriously get out of here, though. It's getting later by the second."

We both get up and he gives me one last kiss, "You're probably right. I'll talk to you later and we'll make a time to meet up again."

I roll my eyes, "More like hook up."

"Maybe, maybe not." he mutters with a wink before sneaking out the door.

I change into my pajamas, feeling a lot better about things with Hunter. I still feel a little bit guilty about stealing my friend's boyfriend behind his back, but in the end, I'm doing everyone a favor. Everyone knew that Hunter and Jeff weren't gonna work out. And now everyone can get what they want. Me and Hunter can have each other, so of course we'll both be happy. And Nick wants Jeff, and whether he knows it yet or not, I'm sure Jeff wants Nick. I mean, who couldn't want Nick? If I wasn't totally nuts about Hunter I sure as hell would.

Jeff walks into the room not ten minutes after Hunter left. I smile over at him, relieved at my good timing, "Hey, Jeff, how was the movie?"

He returns the smile, sitting down and kicking his shoes off, "It was pretty good, scary though."

"Good thing you had Nick to snuggle up to, huh?"

He rolls his at me, quickly realizing my intentions, "Jeez, Bas, it's not like that. Nick and I are just friends. I have a boyfriend, remember?"

"Fair enough," I comment, leaning against the wall and crossing my arms, "But suppose you were single and Nick asked you out, would you still just want to be friends with him?"

"Why are you even asking me this?"

"Just answer the question."

He sighs, "If I was single, and if by some strange chain of events Nick happened to ask me out, yeah, I would say yes. But don't tell anyone I said that or I'll skin you."

I grin, climbing into bed, "Your secret is safe with me, I promise. And I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of, Nick is sexy as hell. I mean, damn, I'd tap that."

He shakes his head at me, changing his clothes, "You're ridiculous, you know that?"

I nod, "Duh, you're not the first to tell me that, and I doubt that you'll be the last."

I feel a strange sense of accomplishment as I fall asleep that night. I feel like somehow in doing something terrible I'm doing something good. I think, everything considered, I'm not a bad person in all of this. I'm not going to ruin anyone's life, in fact, if everything goes smoothly, everything will be perfect for everyone.


	10. Chapter 10

**Jeff's P.O.V.**

I spend a lot of time with Nick for the next few days, getting the cold shoulder from both Hunter and Sebastian. I don't know what their problems are half the time, but lately I just can't keep with them. I love Hunter and I really care about him, but if he doesn't want to tell me what's going on with him, I can't force him to. I don't want to add any more strain in our relationship and it's just easier if he tells me on his own time.

After show choir practice I head down to The Lima Bean with Nick and a notebook full of homework. After grabbing out coffees, we sit down together at a table, tired looks on both of our faces. I give him a small smile, "So, um, how was school?"

He shrugs, "It was alright, I guess. I more than waist deep in AP work, but it'll be worth it in the end."

I nod, "Yeah, stuff like pretty much always pays off. Do you know what you want to go to college for yet?"

"Kind of. I'm torn between a small handful of things. It's hard to pick just one, you know?"

"Yeah, I definitely see what you mean."

He takes a sip of his coffee, "So, um, how are things with Hunter? I can't help but notice you haven't even mentioned him in days..."

I sigh heavily, "I don't know, to be honest. He's been acting all weird and distant lately. He's just so hard to keep up with, I don't even know what to do, you know?"

"I feel like I understand most people pretty well, but I've just never really got Hunter, to be honest with you. You guys worry me sometimes..."

"We're fine," I reply reassuringly, "He just has a tendency to hide his feelings and stuff a lot..."

"I suppose so," he mutters with a grimace, "It's just that I know how much he means to you and I wouldn't want to see you get hurt, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. You don't need to worry about me so much, though. I'm fine, I swear."

"I guess I just want to make sure that you stay that way."

I reach across the table to put my hand on his, "Well thank you. There aren't words to express how much you mean to me."

He gives me a small grin before changing the subject, "We should probably get to work, I feel I was behind before they even assigned all this stuff..."

We don't talk that much the rest of the time, his attention primarily on his school work. I whip through a couple of assignments before my mind starts to wander. I wonder where Hunter is during all the time, I wonder what he's up to. Am I even on his mind? I know that he said that he loved me, but I kinda don't feel like he really meant it. I feel like changed his mind about me every five minutes but doesn't bother to tell me about it.

That's one of my favorite things about Nick. No matter what is bothering me, when I talk to him, I almost completely forget about it. Just looking at him in silence doesn't help all that much, though. I pack my things away and lean over to look at his, "Can I help you with anything?"

He glances up at me through the corner of his eye, "You're already finished?"

"Most of my classes are easier than yours. The little I do have left isn't due until later in the week."

"Well, thank you, but I couldn't ask you to-"

Before he can finish his sentence I grab his homework folder and take out a math worksheet before handing it back to him. I shoot him a smirk, "Don't worry, I'm pretty good at any kind of geometry, so I won't tank your grade."

He rolls his eyes at me, taking his folder back, "You don't have to do that, you know..."

"Yeah, but the less homework you have the more time you have to spend with me." I look down at the paper and begin working on the first problem.

After the majority of Nick's homework is done we head back to school and into my dorm, where Sebastian is curled up in bed. A worried look immediately spreads across Nick's face as he rushes to his side, "Hey, Bas, are you awake?"

Sebastian peeps his head out from under the covers, "Hi Nicky. Yeah, I'm awake. What's up?"

"I don't know..." Nick replies, petting him on the back, "Are you okay?"

"I think I'm getting sick or something. It's just all that bad karma finally getting around to me."

Nick frowns, "Oh jeez, don't say that."

My roommate smirks, sitting up a little bit, "You have no idea..."

I put my things down and sit down with them, "Are you like, really sick or do you just not feel well?"

He sighs, "I don't know. I've been throwing up in between classes all day, and I nearly fainted during lacrosse practice..."

Nick bites his lip, "That sounds pretty awful. I think you should just stay in bed for a few days..."

"A few days is a long time. I don't want to fall behind in anything..." Sebastian replies nervously.

I grimace, "I'll bring you your work when I get back after class. It'll be fine."

He shakes his head, "We don't have every class together."

"No, but I'll stop by and talk to all of your teachers."

"That's really sweet of you," he mutters weakly, "But please, just don't. I'll take care of it."

Nick and I exchange worried looks for a moment, and then he turns back to Sebastian, "Well, we're gonna head out so you can get some rest but can I get you anything before I leave?"

Sebastian shakes his head, lying back down, "No, I'm good. Thank you, though."

I give Nick a reassuring smile as we leave the room and start down the hall, "Don't worry, I'll turn off his alarm so he won't try and get up for class."

"Good idea." he comments with a smirk.

We pass Hunter in the hall and I stop for a moment, "Hey, Hunt, what's up?"

He pauses, an odd expression on his face, "Nothing much. What's up with you?"

"We were just talking to Sebastian real quick. I guess he's really sick..."

I'm a little shocked to see a look of pure concern wash over my boyfriend's face. He quickly shakes it off, pretending not to care, "Oh, sounds like fun. Well I've got some stuff that I need to attend to, but I'll catch you later."

"Okay." I reply as we go our separate ways.

Nick gives me a confused look as we head over to his room, "Is it just me or did Hunter look seriously worried for a second when you told him about Bas?"

"No, I noticed that, too. He's probably just worried that it'll affect the warblers..." I pretend to shrug it off, but I'm actually kinda bothered by it.

The rest of the day rolls along blandly, not much to do and not much to talk about. When I head back to my dorm room that night, Sebastian is exactly where we had left him.

I peek over to see that he's still awake, shivering quietly. I immediately grab a blanket off my bed and put it on top of him. He smiles over at me, "Thank you, but don't give it to me if you're gonna need it."

"I'll be fine," I mutter casually, "You need it a lot more than I do."

"You won't sleep well if you're too cold..."

"If I get cold I'll ask Hunter if I can sleep in his room or something. That way you could have all of my blankets."

He gives me an awkward smile, "Thanks, but I'd rather you stayed here. I don't really want to be alone right now."

I sit down on my bed, "Is there something else going on?"

"No, no. Never mind, you can leave if you want to..."

"No, Bas, of course I'll stay..." I mutter, petting his hair, "I just want to make sure that everything's okay."

"It's fine, Jeff. Just, um, go see Hunter. I'm sure he misses you."

"I've got a better idea," I stand up and walk into the bathroom, calling Hunter.

"Hello?"

"Hey Hunt, it's Jeff?"

"Hey, what's up?"

"Sebastian is really really sick and upset. And I know you guys don't really get along, but it's cold, and he's sad, and I... I was just wondering if you wanted to sleep in our dorm with us tonight."

There's a long pause before he responds, "Look, Jeff, I don't think that's a good idea-"

"Please, Sebastian won't mind! I promise."

He sighs, "Fine. I'll be down in a minute."

"Oh, and bring any spare blankets you might have." I add quickly.

"Sure." He answers plainly, then hangs up.

I walk back over to Sebastian, "Hunter's gonna sleep in here with us tonight. I know you guys fight a lot, but maybe it's time to patch things up. I think deep down he really cares about you."

Sebastian stares at me in disbelief, "You have to be kidding me..."

"No, I'm not. It'll be great, I promise."

He covers his face with his pillow, "I can't even believe you right now! That's like the worst possible idea I've ever heard of in my life..."

I do my best to ignore his theatrics, starting to doubt my idea a little bit.

Hunter shows up a few minutes later, a few large blankets bunched up in his arms, "I'm here, you'd better be happy."

I smile, helping him with things, "I am. And so is Sebastian, he just doesn't want you to know that."

Sebastian looks over at Hunter, "So this couldn't be much more awkward, huh?"

Hunter nods in agreement, laying out his blankets, "Yeah, really. I can't think of a worse scenario."

Sebastian smirks, "You could be sleeping in my bed, but I guess you might risk catching something..."

"I'm risking getting sick just by being in here." He sighs, lying down.

"Oh, stop, you'll be fine." I mutter, cuddling up next to him.

We all simmer down rather quickly, but none of us fall asleep for a long time. I can hear Sebastian shifting around in his bed, and Hunter's breathing tells me that he's still wide awake. Personally, I'm exhausted, but I feel obligated to stay awake until they fall asleep seeing as this was my idea in the first place.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sebastian's P.O.V.**

I didn't get a wink of sleep last night. I felt so horrible just being in the same room as Jeff and Hunter at the same time. I had felt guilty about being the other man before, but I don't think I've ever felt worse than I do now. I can see it now, how much Jeff really cares about him. They're both vague when the talk about their feelings, but they show through when they're together. The part that hurts the worst is knowing that Hunter really does have serious feelings for Jeff, I never really understood that before.

They both head off to class the next morning while I stay in bed. My head is pounding and the only thing keeping me from vomiting my guts out is the chamomile tea they left behind for me. The sickness isn't the worst part, though. I'm trapped in here with my own thoughts, and I hate myself so much that I can't even stand to be around me. But there's no escape and nothing to distract me from it all. I barely leave my bed all morning, fragile and run down inside and out.

I'm more than happy to see Nick when he comes to visit me after he gets out of class. He walks in quietly, a pile of books still in his hands. He sets them down and takes a seat on the edge of my bed, "Hey, Bas, how are you feeling?"

I force a smile, "Better now that you're here. It hasn't been fun, though."

He gently moves my bangs from my sweaty forehead, a worried look on his face, "You feel really warm. I think you have a fever..."

I shrug, "It wouldn't surprise me. That's the least of my problems."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, um, nothing," I mutter, quickly making up a lie, "I just mean that I have a lot of work I'm gonna have to make up."

He frowns, not buying into it, "Are you sure that's all? If there's something going on, you can tell me, you've been acting funny for weeks now."

I bite my lip, shaking my head, "You don't want to know, just don't worry about it, okay?"

"I can't help it. You just hold tight and I'm gonna make you some more tea, unless you feel like you could hold something else down?"

"Tea's good, thank you."

He gives me a small smile, taking my mug off the night stand, "I really care though, tell me when you get back." He doesn't wait for a response before walking out of the room.

I roll over, pulling my pillow tight against my chest. It's true that I never had a secret that I couldn't trust Nick with, but I'm just afraid this one's too close to home. He'll be upset at me for potentially hurting Jeff, but I'm not sure how upset. I need someone to talk to, though, this has been eating me away from the inside out. My best bet is to just tell him the truth while playing the victim. I don't actually feel right about that, either, but I know he'll buy into it. He always wants to see the best in me and making myself look like I'm suffering too will make him a lot less angry with me.

Of course it's true that I really am hurting, but it's hardly relevant in this situation. It's not the whores who men cheat on their wives with that people feel sorry, it's always whoever's the one who's being cheated on. And I agree with that, but the feelings of people in the wrong are often ignored just because they're guilty of something. Either way, I feel confident that I can get Nick to buy into a sob story, or at least keep him from hating me.

Nick re enters the room a few moments later, setting my tea on the nightstand and taking a seat, "So, what's all this about?"

I hesitate for a moment, "It's um, it's pretty terrible, actually. I need you to promise me two things before I tell you."

He nods, "Sure thing, go on."

"Okay," I reply with a heavy sigh, "Just promise that you won't tell a soul what I'm about to tell you, and also that you won't hate me and you'll still be my friend. I guess that's three things, but the last two go hand and hand."

"I promise." he replies reassuring me, "You're my best friend, you don't even have to ask me those things."

"I think you'll see why I did after I tell you what's going on, but okay." I mutter nervously, "The truth is that I've had a thing for Hunter for a really long time. I was just mad that I couldn't have him and that's why I acted like I hated him so much. But um, a few weeks ago something happened between us, and then it happened again recently, and we...we're in love with each other. I know this must sound terrible, but Hunter swore that he would break up with Jeff soon, he's just waiting it out to make it easier on him. I feel horrible about it, but I really believe in the end that this will be best for everyone."

He's quiet for a long moment, a serious and upset look on his face. He shakes his head at me when he finally speaks, "How could you do something like that? I know that most of the time you could care less if somebody was seeing someone else, but Jeff is your friend! You're literally trying to sneak behind one of your best friends' backs and steal his boyfriend from him. You should seriously be ashamed of yourself."

"Oh, trust me, I'm beyond ashamed of myself..." I reply, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Apparently not, or you would have told him the truth. You would be staying away from Hunter rather than trying to break them apart."

I cover my face with a blanket, hiding my sobs, "I know that I'm a horrible person, Nicky! I've been lying in here all day, alone and caught up in my own mind. I hate myself, so goddamn much. You have no idea what it was like, sleeping in here with the two of them last night. I think I've paid more than enough for what I did..."

He sighs, shaking his head and standing up, "I have to get to practice soon, but I'm just gonna tell you this; you haven't paid nearly enough until you're willing to make things right. I'm still your friend, and I always will be. You know how much I care about you and how much I try to defend you in pretty much anything. I'm sure I'll be able to forgive you when you're actually sorry, but betraying your friends isn't something I take lightly. I won't tell anyone about it, but your conscience will make you if you even still have one."

By the time he walks out the door, I'm sobbing heavily, completely destroyed inside. Nick has never come close to being that harsh with me, especially not when I was visibly upset. I feel like my heart was just torn out of me and then stomped on. I know I'm a terrible person, and I really do hate myself for it, but Nick was the one person I could always count on to support me. Despite what he said about still being my friend, I've never felt so alone. My mind immediately rewinds to back to where and who I was before I came here.

Hunter visits me after show choir gets out. I curled up in a ball, still weeping heavily. He over to me, kneeling my bedside, "Bas, hey, what's going on? Are you alright?" He forces the covers off my head and I peek up at him through my tears.

I quickly cover my face with a pillow, "You shouldn't be here... Just go away."

He yanks the pillow away from me, tossing it carelessly aside, "I'm not going anywhere, Bas. Just tell me what's going on?"

"I told Nick about us and now he hates me. You probably hate me, too, right?" I murmur hysterically.

"No, I don't. Just relax." He pets me gently on the arm, "It'll be fine, I'll take care of it, okay? Just tell me why you're freaking out so badly.

I calm down a little bit, "You don't hate me?"

He shakes his head, "No, Sebastian. I meant it when I told you that I loved you. I'm not thrilled that you told Nick, but it's okay. Just tell me, what's really going on here?"

"Nicky's my best friend...he, he doesn't like me anymore..." I answer frantically.

He gently strokes my cheek, "Is that all there is to it? Just breathe and tell me about it, okay?"

I take a deep breath before I anything, and I'm still hesitant when I do, "When I was living in Paris, I was probably an even worse person that I am now. I did horrible things and I never once apologized for any of them. Except I never had a friend to fall back on, not at least a human being, anyway. I would surround myself with alcohol, drugs, and anything else that might help dull my senses and shut my mind off. Things changed when I came here, though. Even if most people hated me, I always had Nick to rely on. He pulled me out of a deep, crippling depression that I might have died in if it weren't for him. And now I'm afraid without him, everything will spiral back to the way it was before. I just feel so goddamn hopeless without him..."

He pets me on the back, "You'll be alright, Bas. I've got your back now. And I'm sure Nick will come around, he just really cares about Jeff. It'll all turn out, babe, I promise."

I sigh, looking over at him, "Do you honestly believe that or are you just telling me that so I don't start hysterically crying again?"

He gives me a small smirk, "I really mean it. I can see how bad you're hurting so I can't bring myself to get upset about you telling anyone about us. But I'll deal with it, I'll talk to him later. I could care less if he hates my guts."

"You know he's both of your boyfriend's best friend, his opinion should mean something to you."

He sighs, standing up and stretching his arms, "I'm sure it will. After things are all sorted out. But I can't really care until he sorts things out between you guys."

"Meh, fair enough."

He climbs into bed with me, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist, "Good lord, it's warm under here."

"Well, I've been here since about 24 hours ago, so yeah, no kidding..." I reply with a playful grin, "Are you sure you should be here right now, though?"

He nods, "Jeff took Nick out for coffee or something. They won't be back anytime soon."

I smile, letting myself relax in his arms. I need a minute to unwind, despite the fact that I've barely moved all day. I don't feel bad about it, though. I feel justified enough because I'm sick, and it's shocking at how straining and stressful a day like this could be.


	12. Chapter 12

**Jeff's P.O.V.**

If I had thought the weird tension with everyone had been bad before, I had no idea what I was in for. It turns out that suddenly Nick and Sebastian aren't talking and they both refuse to tell me why. To make matters worse, Sebastian is barely even speaking to me, despite the fact that he says that he's totally fine with me and everything's good. And if that isn't bad enough, Hunter is acting vague and distant.

It's never fun when the three people you're closest to are all acting up and you have no idea as to why. I head back to my dorm after I get out of class on Friday, who's still not doing any better physically than he is mentally. I put my books away and take a seat across from him, "Hey, Bas, how are you feeling?"

He smiles at me, but I can tell that it's forced, "I'm fine, thanks. I haven't thrown up at all today. Hopefully I can get back to class on Monday."

I nod, petting his hair, "Yeah, that'd be great. Don't go until you're ready, though. I got your work from today, there isn't much, but your History teacher said you have a test a week from today that you should be studying for."

He sits up a little bit, "Thank you. You really shouldn't be doing all this for me, I just feel guilty..."

"Nonsense," I reply, setting a new box of tissues on his night stand, "You shouldn't feel guilty. You can't help being sick, and I'm your friend. I'm more than happy to take care of you."

"But Jeff, it's just tha-"

I shake my head, "But Jeff nothing. Seriously, it's totally cool, and I won't hold this over your head later. Can I make you some soup or something?"

"No, that's okay. I don't wanna push my luck..." he mutters, a distressed look on his pale face.

I sigh, "Well okay, if you insist. But I'm worried about you. Especially with whatever's going on between you and Nick... Could you please just tell me what's going on with you two?"

"Well, the truth is, the vague truth, anyway," he looks at the floor as he begins to speak, "Nick is mad at me because I did..well, I'm sort of doing something that looks really bad. And it is really bad, but not entirely. It's complicated and he just doesn't understand."

I shrug, "Well if you can tell me what that something is I could try to explain it to him for you. Sometimes hearing something from a different person helps you understand it better..."

He shakes his head, "If I told you, you'd hate me more than Nick does. I can't, I'm sorry..."

"Look, Bas, I'm your friend. Whatever it is, I'll forgive you."

"I doubt it," he mutters anxiously, "But um, I'll take care of it on my own time, thanks anyway."

I stand up, sighing heavily, "Fine. I'm gonna go find Nick, call me if you need anything, okay?"

He nods, "Yeah, thank you."

I head down to Nick's dorm, where he and Wes are chatting over a cup of tea and some snacks. I smile at them as I quietly open the door, "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Wes gives me a half smile, "I hate to be rude, but do you mind coming back later?"

Nick shakes his head, "N-no, it's fine, Wes. I don't mind if he-"

Wes looks back over at me, "Well, I'm trying to give Nick here a bit of therapy, so to speak. If he doesn't mind you being here, you can be here, I suppose, I just don't think it's the best idea right now."

"Oh, um, no, that's fine," I reply, "I don't want to intrude. I'll swing by later." I shoot them both a smile before closing the door again.

Of course I was hoping that I could get a chance to talk to Nick, but I'm relieved to see that he has someone he can talk to. He's always looking out for other people and I'm glad that he's dealing with own problems, too.

Not knowing what else to do, I head down to Hunter's room and knock on the door. He opens it promptly, a weary expression on his face, "Hey, what's up?"

I shrug, "Not very much, honestly. Can we hang out or are you busy?"

He sighs, "I've got a lot of homework to do, but I can talk if it's important."

"Um, no, that's fine. I'll just see you later, then."

He gives me a half smile before closing the door again, and I can't help but start to feel a little bit rejected.

I don't blame Nick at all for being busy, of course. But it's a different story with Hunter. He's been hot and cold with me through this entire relationship and lately he never has time for me. I love him and don't want to pester him about it, but I'm really starting to feel pretty bad about all of this.

I spend the rest of the day down in the library, reading and doing whatever I can just to get my mind off everything.

After I've been in there for a good hour or two I notice Hunter's friend, Richard walk in. I've only spoken to him a few times, but maybe Hunter tells him stuff that he doesn't tell me. I know better than to poke my nose into other people's business, but this directly affects me, so I guess it's worth a shot. I pack my things up and sit down across from him, "Hey, um, I know we don't really know each other very well, but um, I'm Jef-"

"You're my best friend's boyfriend, of course I know who you are," he replies casually, "What's up?"

I sigh, "Honestly, I hate to come to you with my problems that you could probably care less about, but um, Hunter's been acting really weird lately, I was just wondering if he had maybe said something to you...?"

He crosses his arms, "Hunter doesn't tell me much. He's really secretive most of the time. But there is definitely something going on with him, if that's what you're asking..."

"Do you have any idea what?"

He shakes his head, "All I know is that he's just not really been himself. His temper is actually a lot better than it usually is, which you would think is a good thing, but I find it suspicious. What's even more weird is that he let slip that he was worried about Smythe the other day. And if you know anything about that, they pretty much hate each other's guts."

I give him a half smile, "Well, I don't know. It's nice to see that they're getting along better. I know when I first met them they couldn't say a single good thing about each other..."

He sighs, "That's why I'm worried. Doesn't it seem a little odd to you, though?"

"Yeah, maybe a little, when you mention it. Do you that I should be worried?"

"Probably not," he replies slowly, "But I don't really know. It could be nothing, but I guess you never really know. It's up to you, man."

I give him an awkward smile, "Well, um, thanks..."

"For what?" He asks, eyebrows raised.

"For telling me what you know." I answer sweetly before gathering my things and wandering off.

For the most part, Nick is really the only person I talk to for the next few days, I'm still getting the cold shoulder from both Hunter and Sebastian. Nick is mostly himself, but he still refuses to tell me a thing about the feud between him and Sebastian. I'm trying to not take anyone's side, seeing as I don't know what's going on between them. I still sort of feel like I'm leaning towards Nick, though, just because we're still talking on a regular basis.

I hang out with him after practice on Monday, and we head down town for a walk. I smile at him as we walk outside into the chilly air, "So, I was happy to see you were talking to Wes the other day."

He nods, putting his hands in his pockets, "Um, yeah. We've gotten pretty close, you know, seeing as we live in the same room. He's pretty great, you know?"

"Yeah, I don't him very well but he seems like a cool guy. Really mature and put together and stuff."

"Mhm. I'm lucky to have a guy like him in my life. I don't know what I'd do without you two."

I can't help but grin at first, but it quickly fades, "Yeah. So um, what about Sebastian? Are you guys still not talking?"

He shakes his head, "Nope. I haven't even seen in several days. He's still sick, huh?"

"Yeah," I reply, looking down at the side walk, "I mean, he's gotten better, though. He's really stubborn about taking his medicine and stuff, though. Trent took him to see a doctor over the weekend, but it's been a slow recovery..."

"Can you give him a message for me?"

I nod, "Yeah, absolutely."

"Just um, tell me that I hope he feels better soon. And just because I'm mad at him doesn't mean I don't care about him." he explains, straight faced.

"I'm sure it'll mean a lot for him to hear that. He's been really down since you guys started fighting." I give him a half smile.

He returns the smile before changing the subject, "So, um, how have things been between you and Hunter?"

I sigh, "Fine, I guess. But no where near good. We barely even talk on a daily basis lately. When I asked he said that he's still interested in me and all that but he's just really busy and hasn't had time for me. I'm not sure I buy it at this point, though..."

He pets me on the arm, "Of course I don't want to see you get hurt, but maybe you should just break things off with him. I could be wrong, but I feel like if really cared all that much, he would make time for you. This has just been going on for way too long, I mean, it's like you guys aren't even dating, anyway..."

I bite my lip, "I don't want to break up with him, though. I still really like him, and I'm hoping he'll come around eventually. It just really sucks waiting..."

"Well, do what you want," he replies, a sad tone in his voice, "I just don't want you to waste all this time on him when he clearly doesn't even notice. I know that you like him and that he means a lot to you, but I'm starting to get the feeling that he doesn't really feel the same anymore."

His words hit me like a slap in the face. It mostly just hurts because he's probably right, and I know it, I've just been denying it because I still want him, "Yeah... I guess I'll try and talk to him about it, hopefully for more than 30 seconds..."

He wraps his arm comfortingly around my waist, seeing the sadness on my face, "It'll be okay. Worst case scenario things will pretty much stay how they are, you just won't be able to call him your boyfriend anymore... I know that sounds bad, but it's really all the same."

I force a smile, pretending to feel better. In reality, I feel horrible, and I don't want to believe what I almost know for a fact is true. I try and keep a straight face, but eats away at me for the rest of the afternoon.

When I go to sleep that night, my mind goes back to the time that I admitted to Sebastian that I was kind of interested in Nick. I guess I wouldn't be too destroyed if me and Hunter did break up, but that's only if I could be with Nick instead. The problem with that is that Nick probably wouldn't feel the same way, and I wouldn't him to think I was trying to use him as a rebound. I close my eyes, trying to get the thought out of my head, in that scenario I pretty much would be using Nick as a rebound, even if I did really like him. I couldn't ever hurt him like that. I hug my pillow tightly, trying to clear my head and fall asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

The rest of the week goes by in much the same mannerism as the last few, still never getting a chance to Hunter. Sebastian is finally back in class, but he and Nick still don't even look at each other when they pass in the halls. I do my best to not be seen with one of them while the other is around. I know they probably wouldn't say anything, but I don't want to lead anyone to think that I'm taking sides.

I walk out of show choir practice on Thursday after a long, stressful day. I put my hands in my pockets and head back towards my dorm room. "Hey Jeff! Wait up!" I whirl around to see Trent following a few yards behind me.

I stop and wait for him to catch up, "What's up?"

He has a nervous, troubled look on his face, "This is gonna be hard to hear, but there's something I think you should know. Can I come to your room with you for a minute?"

I nod, a little bit confused, "Um, yeah, sure..."

We both walk into my room and I close the door and put my things down. He looks bothered as we sit down, quiet for a moment.

"So...um, what's going on?" I ask awkwardly.

He looks at me sympathetically, "Somebody who prefers to stay anonymous told me that they um, saw something, and I just think you should know, even though it's kind of really bad..."

I purse my lips, "Bad how? What was it?"

He sighs heavily, "The other day, they went to see Hunter about something... And when they opened the door, they saw him bed with someone who wasn't you... They were quiet and quick enough that Hunter doesn't know that they know. If that makes sense..."

I feel my stomach twist into a painful knot, "You mean so Hunter doesn't know that anyone knows?"

He nods, "Yeah..."

"Who was he with?"

He looks really nervous, "I hate to throw him under the bus, but I guess you deserve to know the truth more importantly...it was Sebastian."

I feel tears welling up in my eyes almost instantly, a mix of rage and sadness brewing rapidly inside me, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah..." he whispers, consolingly resting his hand on my shoulder, "I'm so sorry. I just figured that you should know. I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone that it was me who told you, but it's not the end of the world if it comes out."

"Sure, no problem..." I reply, holding back from crying, "Thanks for telling me, can I have some privacy?"

"Of course." he says, standing up and walking towards the door, "I'm here for you if you need me, okay?"

I nod, "Yeah..."

The second he walks out, I let my cries out, curling up on my bed. I've never felt more betrayed in my life, on both of their ends. I guess that explains why they've both been avoiding me. I can't believe how stupid I was to think that nothing was going on. I feel so blind, so dumb, I almost feel like I had this coming to me for being so naive.

I let myself cry for a long time before the anger starts to numb the pain. I get out of bed and wash my face, trying to pull myself together. When I feel like I can handle it, I get up and head down to Hunter's room.

I knock loudly on his door, trying to stay calm. He opens it, "Hey, Jeff, what's up?"

I do my best to pretend everything's fine at first, "Can I talk to you?"

"I was going to actually head out soon, but-"

"But nothing," I reply, forcing my way into his room, "Just stop avoiding me, okay? Be a man and tell me the truth."

He looks nervous for a second, but then pretends to shrug it off, "What do you mean? What truth? What are you talking about?"

I sigh, "I'm giving you one chance to let you have the slightest bit of integrity and character before this all blows up in your face. Just be honest with me, about why you've been avoiding me so much..."

He sits us both down on his bed, "Just, calm down, okay? I don't know what you're talking about, this is probably a big misunderstanding..."

"If you didn't want me, you could have been honest about it! I know that you're cheating on me, Hunter! With one of my best friends, no less! You're a horrible person, I hope you know that!"

"Jeff, just cool it. I'm not cheating on you..."

"Don't you dare even try to lie to me!" I reply, standing back up, "I know what's going on, I'm not stupid. Well I guess I am considering I believed that you ever liked me in the first place... I guess if you're not gonna come clean, there's no real reason to ever speak to you again, anyway. We are so over it's not even funny!"

Before I can storm out of the room, he takes me by the arm and sits me back down, "...You're right, Jeff. I'm sorry. I know that there's nothing that I could ever to say to make this go away, but I'm really sorry. The truth is that when we were first starting out, I really did like you, every bit much as I said I did. But, beforehand, I had feelings for Sebastian. He just hated me so I didn't think I had a chance with him. But one day, out of the blue, he tells me that he's in love with me. I should have just told you the truth to begin with, but I was trying to let you down easy..."

I bite my lip, not allowing myself to cry in front of him, "Well, you had one thing right, there's nothing you could say to make this any better. You and Sebastian are both back stabbing jerks, and I can't believe I was ever blind enough to befriend either one of you!"

He shakes his head at me, "I get you're upset, but nobody's perfect. I mean, Nick has known about this for a while, but he never told you the truth. Just cool it, okay?"

Knowing that Nick had a part in this breaks the last stable part that I had left, "I just, I hate all of you! I fucking hate you so much..." Before I know it, I'm sobbing hysterically and I make a mad dash for the door.

I'm not ready to go back to my dorm and see Sebastian right now, so I head outside to find a rock to crawl under or something. Just my luck, I run into Nick on my way out.

He stops me in the hall, resting a hand on my shoulder, "Hey, Jeff, what's the matter, are you okay?"

I shake my head, shoving him off, "You know what's the matter. You fucking knew all this time and you didn't tell me? Well it's nice to know that I never meant shit to you, either."

"Jeff, wait!" He calls as I continue to walk away. He follows me out the door, "I'm sorry! I can explain, alright? Just please..."

"Just get the hell away from Nick. I don't ever want to see any of you guys ever again!"

He continues to try to talk to me, but I ignore him, making way down to the side of the river on the school grounds. He eventually gives up, "Fine, whatever. I'm sorry, Jeff, and when you're ready to talk you know where to find me."

"Don't hold your breath..." I reply sharply as he begins to walk away.

I hang out by the river for the rest of the day, completely and utterly destroyed. As much as it hurt to lose Hunter and Sebastian, knowing that I had Nick helped to ease the pain. But without him, I don't know what I'm gonna do. Sure, I have other friends, but nobody that I'm close to. Nick was the only person that I felt like I could trust with anything, and it turns out I really couldn't trust him at all. It feels like I've been stabbed repeatedly in the chest, and I don't think that I'll ever really recover.

Eventually it gets dark and I head back into my dorm room. Sebastian is no where to be found, I assume it's because Hunter told him that I found about them. I guess I wouldn't want to be anywhere near me either, if I were him. I take a long, steaming hot shower, hoping that it will help me relax a little bit. I cry off and on for the entire night, but I barely sleep at all.

Every day after that just feels like hell. I don't attend any show choir practices, but no one says anything about it. I could care less if I was off the team, anyway. For a few days, Nick tries to talk to me, but I continuously push him away, and eventually he gives up on it. I still have Trent to talk to here and there, but I prefer to spend most if not all of my time alone. I haven't seen Sebastian in our room in days, and if it weren't for his things hanging around I would think that he had moved out altogether.

There are moments that I dream of picking myself up off the ground and facing my issues head on, but my ideas never get too far. I don't even care about much of anything anymore. I'm still hurt by all my best friends betraying me, but I learn to cope, sort of anyway. I can't stop thinking about it, but I do stop crying about it. I try not to think about it, I try not to think at all. I keep telling myself that if I can hang on just a little bit longer, than things will get better. They never seem to, though, the more time that passes the more hopeless it all feels.

It's not easy, feeling like your dead when you know you're alive. But the only thing that's worse than that is wishing that you were dead. I think about it more and more every day, and I'm never able to come with any good reasons to still exist at all. Sure, there's potential for the future, but not much. Graduation is just a few short months away, but I'll be just as alone out there as I have been here.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sebastian's P.O.V.**

Looking back just a matter of weeks ago, I never would have guessed the pain that I would have caused for everyone, myself included. After Jeff found out that Hunter and I had been seeing each other behind his back, he distanced himself from all of us, Nick included. I never got a chance to tell him how I sorry I am, and that I never wanted to hurt him. I wonder if it would make him feel better to know that I'm suffering, too. I doubt that he's noticed, though.

The few people that didn't think poorly of me before think horrible things about me now. Word travels fast, and before I know it, the whole school is calling me a slut behind my back. The worst part is that I totally agree with them, and no matter what they say about me, regardless of how vile, probably has some truth to it. What's worse than that is that Nick is still mad at me. I never told Jeff the truth, and now I lost my chance. I don't know if he'll ever speak to me again.

I still have Hunter, but things are weird between us. Of course he still loves me, and we're still seeing each other, but it's even more of a secret than it was to begin with. He doesn't even look at me unless we're alone, and when we are, I can see how guilty he feels about hurting Jeff. I feel just as bad if not worse, but for some reason we never seem to talk about it.

I've gotten into the habit of sleeping in the choir room at night and only visiting my dorm during school hours. I have no where else to sleep at night because I have no friends left that would let me stay in there rooms. I can't stay with Hunter or his roommate would see us. He still doesn't want people to know we're together, mostly for Jeff's sake. I hate myself for hurting Jeff, but giving him our room is the least that I can do. Of course it would be nice to sleep on an actual bed, but I don't even feel like I deserve one at this point.

After weeks of suffering in this horrible rut, I head into my dorm room to attempt to make things right with Jeff. Even though I wasn't the only one involved, I feel almost entirely responsible for it. I've never been good at dealing with the after math of my actions, but I don't think I have a choice. Worst case scenario, I already know that Jeff hates me, and nothing will change. I guess it's worth a try.

I open the door to see him curled up on his bed, wide awake yet doing nothing. He looks at me but doesn't say a word. I close the door quietly and sit down, "Look, Jeff, I know that you probably hate me right now. And you have absolutely every right under the sun to do so. Of course I'm sorry, but I don't even feel like I have the right to ask you to forgive me..."

He doesn't say anything, or even look at me, but I can tell that he's listening.

I bite my lip, "I guess I'm just here because I feel responsible for everything that happened. I know I wronged you, and I feel like hell for it. And if it makes you feel any better, I've lost pretty much all of my friends and everyone thinks that I'm a lousy tramp. Nothing hurts worse than the guilt, though. I should have come clean a long time ago, but I'm doing my best to make up for it now. If you never even look at me again, that's okay. But you shouldn't shut Nick out. He promised me that he wouldn't tell a soul before he even knew what I was going to say. He cares about you so much, and he still won't talk to me, but I can see from a mile away that you shutting him out is killing him. I've ruined everything for everyone, and even if things never get better for me, I'm going to try and make them better for everyone else. Just please, talk to him, Jeff. He loves you, he really does. The only reason that he hates me now is because I hurt you... And I get that I deserve everything that comes at me, but Nick, he doesn't. Just please, give him another chance. He'll never screw up again, I know him too well..."

He looks over at me, a troubled expression on his face, "Are you, um, are you still seeing Hunter?"

I sigh heavily, "Yeah. He doesn't want people to know that, mostly for your sake, but I can't bring myself to ever lie to you again. I know this might hurt to hear, but we, um, we really love each other..."

"I guess that's sort of a good thing," he replies blankly, "At least I know there was reasoning behind all this. That you weren't intentionally hurting me."

I nod, a splash of hope washing over me, "Of course not. I know that I really screwed up, but none of us ever wanted to hurt you. We all still really care about you.."

He lets out a heavy sigh, "I kind of doubt that, but thanks anyway, I guess."

There's a long moment of silence before I speak again, "So is there any chance that you'll give Nick another chance? He wouldn't dream of even asking you, but I know that he deserves it. His only issue was that he was caught between his two best friends, and he chose me because I got to him first. But Jeff, I'm out of his life now. There's no one in the world that he cares about more than he cares about you. And he's literally the best friend you could ever ask for..."

"I guess you're right. I just don't know how to patch things up. I'm sure everyone's worlds have been turning upside down, but I've been too hurt and self centered to care or even really notice. Truth be told, I'm angry with all four of us..."

"Yeah," I reply, a heavy pain in my chest, "I don't blame you if you never forgive me, but just try and work things out with Nick. You guys are both great people, and you deserve to be happy. And it'll be a lot easier to be happy if you have each other. I can tell that he still wants to reach out to you, he's just afraid that you'll push him away again. I know him really well, even if we're not friends anymore..."

He puts his knees up, "I'm sorry that you and Nick don't talk anymore. I know what it feels like to lose your best friend, and it sucks. Maybe you deserve it, maybe you don't, but it looks like you've learned your lesson. I don't want to hate you guys anymore, I really don't. I've just been having a hard time coping and I don't even know where to go from here..."

"It'll take time," I explain gently, "But if you're willing, all you have to do is forgive us. We're all beyond sorry. I'd do anything to get your trust back. We all would. We all royally fucked up, but that doesn't mean that we don't care about you. So even if you're still mad at us, that's fine, just know that even though we're a bunch of morons, we still really care about you."

He gives me a hint of a smile, "Yeah, I guess so."

I stand up, "Well, I'll leave you alone to think about it, I guess."

He looks up at me, "I don't know where you've been staying all this time, but you can come and sleep in here again if you want to. I don't mind, if that's why you haven't been around."

I smile, "Well, thank you, I really appreciate that. I've been sleeping in the choir room because I thought you needed your space and no one really wanted me around. I'll see you in a little while, then?"

He nods, "Yeah."

Walking out of the room I feel a whole lot better about the whole thing. It's clear that he's still upset about everything, but it's good to see that he's considering what I said. I want to go and talk to Nick next, but I'm too afraid. I can't handle being rejected by him again, it just hurts way too much. I'm hoping that if things work out with Jeff and he realizes that I had something to do with it, he'll come around and finally start talking to me again. He said that he was still my friend and that he still cared about me, though it really hasn't felt that way at all. Nick has never been one to lie, though, so I just hope he was being honest about that.

I stop by Hunter's room and walk in. He's on the computer, not doing anything that looks really important. I sit down on his bed, "So...I talked to Jeff..."

He looks at me, totally shocked, "Really?"

I nod, "Yeah. He's still pretty upset about everything, but at least I can sleep in my own bed again. I also told him about us, I can't lie to him ever again if I want to earn his trust back..."

He sighs, "Did he seem upset about it?"

I shake my head, "No, not really. Obviously he wasn't thrilled, but he said that he was happy to hear that we actually love each other. You know, so we didn't screw him over for the sake of screwing him over."

"Fair enough," he replies casually, "Is he still really angry?"

"It's complicated, but at least got him to consider speaking to us again. It'll be a slow and potentially painful process, but I think we've got a pretty good shot at patching things up with him."

He smiles, taking my hand, "That's great news."

"So, um, do you think there's any chance that we can be seen together in public now?" I ask hopefully.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. People already think the worst of us, anyway."

I smirk, leaning back, "That's for sure. At least I have you. That's what really matters."

He kisses me on the cheek, "Yeah, that's true. I'd feel a lot better if we could patch things up with Nick and Jeff, though. Mostly for your sake."

"I'm working on it," I reply, squeezing his hand, "One thing at a time, okay?"

"Sure." he answers with a smile, lying down on his bed with me.


	15. Chapter 15

**Jeff's P.O.V.**

I told Sebastian that everything was okay, and he seems to believe it, for the most part. Things are still rocky with Nick and Hunter, but I don't really feel up to pretending to be friends with them. I'm not as angry as I was, but I'm still every bit as upset. It's hard to fake things with Sebastian, but I feel like I don't have a choice, considering that we live together.

Each day blends into the next, and I lose track of the date, hardly able to figure out when I should and shouldn't get up for class. When I don't have school work to do, I spend most of time alone in my room, either listening to sad music or trying to sleep the time away. It doesn't phase me that my grades have been slipping, or that I've been missing out on college visits, or anything of that sort. I don't care about pretty much anything anymore, and it's starting to really show.

A week or two after I cleared things up with Sebastian, Hunter approaches me in the hall after class, "Hey, Jeff, can we talk?"

I glance over at him, "I guess. I don't really have anything to say, though."

"Well I have tons." he leads me to his dorm room and we both sit down. I avoid making eye contact with him, feeling weird about this whole situation.

He's quiet for a moment, but eventually begins to speak, "So, um, I get that you probably hate me because of what happened..."

I sigh, "I did. I don't anymore, but I don't think we should really try and be friends, either..."

"I still really care about you. And I just, I don't know, I feel so guilty that you've been so upset, I just want to fix things..."

"You can't, Hunter. No one can. What's done is done, and the best thing you can do right now is just stay away from me. I'm glad that you and Sebastian are happy together, but I don't want anything to do with it anymore..." I explain, eyes still on the floor.

"So it doesn't count for anything that I'm trying?" he asks with a frown.

"I said I don't hate you," I reply sharply, "I just don't want to know you anymore. Maybe that sounds harsh, but what difference does it make to you anyway?"

He bites his lip, "I care about you. I still want to be your friend. I know that I hurt you and I'm sorry. Just give me another chance."

"I'm sorry, I just can't," I mutter as I stand up, "It's hard enough pretending that everything's okay with Sebastian. I can't put on a face for everyone..."

He gets to his feet, following me to the doorway, "What do you mean? Bas said that you guys were cool..."

I shake my head as I open the door, "Well, I lied. I'm not mad at him, not really, but it's hard to ignore someone that you live with. Don't tell him I said anything, I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings.." I walk out into the hall without waiting for a response.

I could tell by the look on his face that what I said really hurt him, but I try not to worry about it too much. I'm sure that he'll be fine. I feel somewhat guilty for what I said, but I don't have the mental energy to take any of it back, especially because I meant every word of it.

I head back into my room to see Sebastian curled up in bed, a miserable look on his face. Concerned, I immediately take a seat next to him, "Hey, Bas, are you okay?"

He looks over at me, a weak smile spreading across his face, "Yeah, I think I'm okay."

I bite my lip, "You're not getting sick again, are you?"

"I don't think so, no. I'm fine..."

"Then what's going on? You're not usually the one that's curled up in bed all day..." I ask, petting his arm.

Sebastian sighs, "Nothing, I'm just, I'm going through a hard time, I guess. You probably don't wanna hear it, I'm sure your problems are worse than mine..."

I take his hand, "No, no, tell me. Hearing about someone else's problems will get my mind off mine."

He shakes his head, "No, really, Jeff, it's fine. Forget I mentioned anything..."

I frown, "Please just tell me. Even if it has something to do with Hunter, I really would like to hear it."

"It's just Nick..." He begins sadly, "I miss him so much. I'm totally lost without him. It's like without him in my life, whenever the slightest thing goes wrong I just spin out of control. I can't stand it..."

I nod, "Yeah, I totally understand what you mean. Obviously not to the extent that you feel it, but I miss Nick. He's like this strong rock for everyone..."

"Yeah," he agrees with a sniffle, "I just, I really miss him a lot. Can you please just talk to him again, Jeff? He needs you. I know he does, and if I can't be there for him, you really should be."

"I guess you're right. I'll um, I'll talk to him later..." I respond tentatively, feeling pretty uneasy about it.

He gives me a small smile, "Thanks, Jeff. That means a lot to me, and I'm sure it will mean even more to him."

"Yeah..." I mutter, "So um, this might seem like a weird question coming from me, but how are things with you and Hunter?"

He gives me a confused look, "You sure you wanna hear about it?"

"Mhm."

"Okay," he replies awkwardly, "Well, we're um, we're pretty good, I think. We fight a lot, but that's to be expected. There was always some truth behind all the times that we said we hated each other..."

I smirk, "Yeah, I guess I can believe that..."

We talk for a long time, and I feel a lot more relaxed by the end of the night. But by the time the next day rolls around, I'm still not really ready to talk to Nick. I don't know why it's so hard for me, especially because I was the least upset with him to begin with. I think that my whole mind is backwards at this point, normally me and Nick would be best friends again by now, and Sebastian would be the one that I'm upset with. It's the total opposite, though, and I can't seem to figure out why.

I'm relieved when I finally feel like I'm starting to recover, though. I was afraid that I never would. I even start going back to show choir practice after a few weeks. Normally I would assume that I'd be kicked off after all that time, but with Hunter being the Captain, I think he gave me the benefit of the doubt and let it slide.

Still, though, I can't bring myself to speak to Nick. I'm starting to think that it's guilt that's holding me back. I didn't realize this at the time, of course, but I really mistreated him. I was way too harsh with him, just because I was so upset with Hunter and Sebastian. I took out half of it on him just because he made the slightest mistake. I take days to finally get myself together, and even when I finally do, I'm extremely nervous.

I approach Nick after show choir practice, hoping that I'm not too late. I look at him nervously, "Hey, can I talk to you?"

He looks totally shocked, but nods after a long moment, "Um, yeah, of course."

We walk out into the hallway and I look at him apologetically, "I guess I just wanna say that I'm sorry. I was so hurt over what happened with Hunter, I just let myself take it all out on you without thinking. That was wrong, and I'm really sorry. I would love to be your friend again, if it's not too late..."

He gives me a small smile, "Of course, absolutely. I'm sorry, too. And I forgive you, I screwed up pretty bad, too."

I grin, taking his hand, "I'm really sorry. Like you have no idea. I'm really glad we're friends again."

He nods, "Yeah, me too. Do you want to go and grab a coffee like old times?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

There's a lot of small talk between the two of us as we walk down the street, but when we finally sit down, I realize there's something that we've yet to discuss.

"So," I begin, pulling my chair in a little bit, "Sebastian says you guys still aren't talking. He really misses you, Nicky."

He sighs, "I miss him, too. Like hell. I feel like a jerk sometimes, but he just, I don't know. He hit a nerve with me, I guess."

I bite my lip, "He told me the original reason why you guys were fighting was because of me, kind of. He feels horrible, but he's scared to talk to you... I think if I can forgive him, you could to..."

"You're right," he says with a sad look on his face, "You're definitely right. I was hoping he would come to me, but I guess that's not gonna happen, huh?"

I shake my head, "No, he's really afraid that you're still angry with him."

He sighs, "Well thank you for telling me about that. I guess I'll address it soon enough. It'd be nice to have the gang back together, or well, the three of us, anyway."

I smile, "Yeah, it would. I've missed you so much, Nicky."

He reaches for my hand over the table and holds onto it, "I've missed you too, Jeffy."

I pause for a moment, just looking into his pretty green eyes. I had almost forgotten about the crush that I used to have on Nick, the same feeling that's weaseling it's way back into my heart right now. Maybe Sebastian's heart really was in the right. He had eventually explained the whole story to me, but I had never really considered it before. I feel happier with Nick, just as friends, than I had ever felt with Hunter.

I go to sleep that night with a trace of doubt still hanging around, but more peace of mind that I can remember feeling in a really long time. I finally feel like I've done something right, and it's amazing.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sebastian's P.O.V.**

I'm happy to hear that Jeff has things sorted out with Nick, but I can't help but be a little bit jealous. I know that I don't have a right to be, though, so that just makes me feel even worse about everything.

I head down to Hunter's room on Friday night, hoping that I can sleep in his bed. I don't bother knocking before I walk into the room. He's lying on his bed in his underwear, half asleep. I close the door and lie down next to him, "Hey babe."

He looks over at me, propping his head up, "Hey Bas, what's up?"

I hug his arm, "Not much. I miss you, and I'm sad..."

He throws his arm around me, "Why are you sad?"

"I miss Nicky..." I answer in a mopey voice, snuggling up against him.

He sighs, "You guys still aren't talking, huh?"

I shake my head.

"Well, maybe if he still doesn't want to talk to you than he's not worth your time. You can't be hung up on him forever."

I frown, "But Nicky's been my best friend ever since I moved here. He can't actually hate me, can he? He said we were still friends..."

"Why do you always call him Nicky? Should I be jealous? And have you even tried talking to him recently?"

"No," I mutter, rolling my eyes, "And of course not. I'm too scared to talk to him."

"You'll never know until you try..." he explains with a half smile.

"I guess that's true. But I'm still really scared. About everything..." I reply, curling my knees up.

He kisses me on the forehead, "I think it would be worth it in the end, but it's your call..."

"I guess so..."

I stay with Hunter for the rest of the night, but wake up in the morning with a sick feeling in my stomach. The first thing on my mind is Nick, and the possibility of talking to him. I look over at Hunter, who's wide awake and sitting at the computer. He smiles at me, "Hey, look who's finally awake."

My eyes drift to the clock, "It's only nine.."

He raises his eyebrows, "I've been up for a few hours already."

I roll my eyes, climbing out of bed, "Well thanks for staying and cuddling with me..." I mutter sarcastically.

He sighs, pulling me onto his lap, "Sorry, I didn't know you'd miss me so much."

I kiss him on the cheek, "Yeah, well I guess I did. I'm gonna run and get dressed, see you in a few?"

He nods, "Yeah, sure." He squeezes me for a moment before letting me go.

I shoot him a warm smile at the doorway, and then proceed to walk out. I stretch my arms around as I walk down the hall, and quickly head into my room. Jeff is lying down in bed with Nick sitting with him. I freeze up instantly, panicking in my mind.

We both stare at each other in silence for a long moment, and then speak at the exact same time.

"Nick..."

"Sebastian."

I bite my lip nervously, and am beyond grateful when he finally speaks first, "Do you have a minute?"

I nod, taking a seat, "Yeah, absolutely."

He sighs as his eyes drift up to meet mine, "I'm sorry. I just..."

"It's okay," I reply with a weak smile, "I'm sorry, too. Things got really screwed up. And I miss you. I want you to be my friend again. I did my best to fix things even though it wasn't in the way that you wanted me to..."

Jeff is smiling from under the blanket, watching us hash things out. Nick gives him a smirk before resting a hand on my knee, "It's okay, Bas. I was really harsh with you, and that wasn't right. I miss being your friend, too."

I put my hand on his, "So does this mean we're friends again?"

He nods with a charming grin, "Of course. Do you, um, have any plans for today?"

"Well, I don't know. I need to meet Hunter back in his room in a few minutes. Maybe the four of us can do something together?"

An uncomfortable look spreads across both of their faces. I bite my lip, "Too soon?"

Jeff nods, sitting up, "Yeah, maybe a little. Just because me and Hunter can be in the same room doesn't mean we should be hanging out. I don't know, things are still weird."

I lean back, crossing my arms, "Hmm, well let's see here. Me and you are friends again. You and Nick are friends again. Nick and I are friends again. Of course things are cool between me in Hunter... Maybe you guys can work it out?"

Nick shakes his head, "I don't know, Bas. Don't push your luck..."

I sigh, standing up, "Yeah, you're probably right. But whenever you guys are okay with everything, a double date sounds like a lot of fun." I wink at them before gathering my clothes and heading into the bathroom.

I quickly shower and get dressed before heading back to see Hunter, finally feeling completely okay. I walk into his room with a wide grin on my face, "Hey, guess what?"

He glances over at me, "What?"

I sit down on his bed, "I um, I talked to Nick."

He raises his eyebrows, "Oh yeah? Judging by the look on your face, I'd say it went well?"

I nod, "Yeah, everything's cool with us now. It was surprisingly easy, we barely had to even talk about it. There's just one last thing, though..."

He crosses his legs, "And what mind that be?"

"You and Jeff need to patch things up so we can go on double dates and set them up. I did all I can do..." I explain with a grin.

He sighs, "Why are so determined to set the two of them up, anyway?"

"Because," I begin, widening my eyes, "We owe it to them. Nick likes Jeff, Jeff likes Nick. Jeff had you, but I stole you from him. They're both too shy in that aspect to get anywhere on their own.."

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head at me, "You really just love getting in other people's business, don't you? I think Nick and Jeff are fully capable or pursuing a relationship on their own."

I walk over to him, taking both his hands, "Our help would probably mean a lot to them. We owe it to them, dammit. You're just saying all that because you don't want to have to man up and apologize to Jeff."

"I have apologized to Jeff, about a million times!" he argues with a scowl, "He's the one who doesn't want to forgive me!"

I frown, pacing back and forth, "Fine, Hunter, I'll just play messenger between the two of you until one of you can grow a pair and sort things out on your own!"

He stands up, stopping me in my tracks, "Just relax, Bas. I'll deal with it, okay? He's just really stubborn..."

I flop into his arms, "You'd better. Because I will have a little tape worm eating away at my conscience until every little bit of this whole situation is resolved."

"I don't think tape worm is the term you're looking for..." he mutters, furrowing his eyebrows, "Nor did I realize you had a conscience..."

I sigh heavily, walking away from him, "Why else would I be dealing with all of this, Hunter? Why else would I care?"

"Karma?" He asks with a shrug.

I sit back down on his bed, "No, not karma. I could care less about that at this point. But it's because I care about my friends, and I have to make things right. Is that so hard to understand? Well, maybe for you it is..."

He rolls his eyes, sitting down beside me, "I'm only as bad of a person as you are, don't forget that."

I raise an eyebrow, "That doesn't even make sense. But can you please just fix things with Jeff so that I can sleep at night?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll do my best, okay?" he replies, putting an arm around me.

"I guess that's all I can ask for..." I mutter, resting my head on his shoulder.

Flint walks into the room, tossing a pile of blankets onto his bed.

Hunter glances over at him, "Where were you?"

"I stayed in Richie's room last night. We hung out and played video games and stuff..." he explains, making his bed.

I raise an eyebrow, "Are you sure that's all that you and Richie were doing last night?"

He shakes his head at me, "Yeah, Sebastian. Unlike some people I don't fuck every other guy I meet."

I frown, "Well I haven't fucked you, now have I?"

Hunter bites his lip, "Yeah, dude, don't say shit like that about my boyfriend..."

Flint looks surprised, "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you guys were actually dating."

"Yeah, well, we are." Hunter says sternly, "So watch it."

"Sure thing," Flint mutters casually before walking into the bathroom.

I smile warmly at Hunter, "Wow..."

He raises an eyebrow, "What?"

"It just feels really good to hear you say that I'm yours, never mind you standing up for me like that." I lace my fingers into his, "It just, um, it means a lot to me."

"I know I've done a lot of pretty shitty stuff, but I'm done with that, babe." he explains, squeezing my hand, "At least as far as you're concerned. You mean the world to me, and I want you to know that."

I kiss him softly, "I love you so much. You're the greatest guy ever."

He returns the kiss, "I love you more, baby. And don't try to argue that."

I roll my eyes, "But what if I really think that-"

"No." he says, putting a finger over my lips, "We're not going there. It's annoying and sappy and pointless. I love you more and that's that. Got it?"

"Sure..." I mutter sarcastically, "Whatever you say, Captain."

"Good." He smirks before giving me a small peck, "Cause it wasn't really optional."

I sigh, moving my head onto his lap, "I'll keep that in mind next time.'"


	17. Chapter 17

**Jeff's P.O.V.**

I can't help but notice that Hunter has been staring at me all week, and I don't have a clue as to why. I walk up to him after History class one day to try and figure what the hell is up.

"Hey, Hunter." I greet awkwardly, following him down the hallway.

He glances over at me, "Oh, um, hey. What's up?" He asks, looking thoroughly confused.

"I was going to ask you that, actually. I couldn't help but noticed you've been, um, looking over at me," I begin, stumbling over my words a little, "Is there something you wanted to say or...?"

He sighs, putting his books in his locker, "Not really. I guess I was just wondering if you still hate me..."

I bite my lip, "I said a lot of things that I didn't really mean. I don't hate you, Hunter. I never honestly did. I was just really angry..."

He nods as we continue down the hall, "Fair enough, I guess. Well, um, do you still strongly dislike me and want nothing to do with me?"

I shake my head, "No, of course not. Me and Sebastian have been doing a lot of talking, and I realized that it's not fair that I forgave him and not you. Even if it was just an act at first, I really am his friend again now. And I think you deserve a second chance, too..."

He gives me a half smile, "Well, um, I appreciate that. Are we cool again?" He asks, putting his hand out.

I ignore his hand, pulling him into a hug instead, "Definitely. Holding grudges is exhausting."

He hugs me back, a little shocked, "Yeah, I guess so. This just seems a little sudden..."

I sigh, letting him go, "Well, I've been thinking. A lot. I've been angry at you longer than we were even together, I think. It just seems kind of ridiculous. I was really upset, but I care too much about you guys to stay upset with you. I never thought I'd say this, but um, I really hope things work out with you and Bas..."

He pauses for a moment, "You don't have to go that far, Jeff... It's okay, really..."

"Well, Sebastian has been working so hard to make amends with everyone, I owe that to him at this point. Besides, he wants to go on double and dates and stuff, and that won't work if I can't stand to see you two together."

He smirks, "Double dates? As in me and Bas and you and Nick, right? Sounds pretty cute. Are you guys official yet?"

I shake my head, "No, it's nothing like that. I mean, Nick's an amazing guy, but I don't think he's into me. We'll just go as friends, it'll be fun."

He rolls his eyes, "Oh please, Jeff. You're both clearly into each other. Can one of you please just man up and admit it?"

"I don't know, dude. I wouldn't wanna screw our friendship or anything like that. I wouldn't want to make anything weird between us."

He puts a hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eyes, "Nick wants you. I know for a fact that he does. Just tell him that you feel the same way so that you guys can be happy already. I get wanting to wait for him to ask you, but I don't think he will. He thinks that you're still getting over me..."

I raise an eyebrow, "How do you know all this, anyway?"

"I'm dating his blabber mouth of a best friend, obviously." he mutters with a smirk.

"Fair enough," I reply with a shrug, "But how do you know that Nick likes me? I don't want to try anything unless I'm totally certain."

"For starters," he begins, "Outside of it just being extremely obvious, Sebastian told me. He's also extremely protective over you. When we were dating me, he told me to take really care of you, because you deserve to be treated like gold...That's pretty much word for word."

I bite my lip, smiling uncontrollably, "He really said that?"

He nods, "I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. How about this, the four of us can all go on a romantic date this weekend. It'll be great, and unmistakably not something that 'just friends' do together. Deal?"

"Um, I don't know..." I answer nervously.

"Well, too bad. I guess it wasn't really a question. We're going, and I'm sure you'll thank me later."

"Sure..." I murmur, feeling a little exasperated.

He grins, "That's the spirit! Well, not really, but I'll take what I can get."

I smirk, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Well, I gotta go find Bas, but I'll catch you later?" he asks, petting me on the back.

I nod, "Yeah, sure. See you around."

I watch as he walks away, a satisfied look on his face. Meanwhile I'm nervous as hell. I don't want them to pressure Nick into feeling like he needs to date me. I know he said that he likes me, but you can never really be sure unless you ask someone yourself.

Not knowing what else to do, I head down to Nick's room, eager to spend time with him without Hunter and Sebastian breathing down our necks. I knock on the door and wait, not sure who's doing what at this time of day.

"It's open!" I hear Nick call from inside.

I walk in, a shy smile on my face, "Hey, Nicky."

He beams back at me, "Hi Jeff. What's going on?"

I shrug, taking a seat next to him, "Not very much. I just finally cleared things up with Hunter, and he's already trying to convince me that the four of us should all go out this weekend..."

He raises his eyebrows, "The four of us as in-"

"Hunt, Bas, you and me. I mean, I'll go if you wanna go, I just wouldn't want to make anything weird, you know?"

"Why would anything be weird?"

I hesitate for a moment, "Well, Hunter was talking about it like it would be some kind of double date. And I'm cool with that, but he was really stressing the date part, and I just wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable..."

He bites his lip, "Honestly, I don't think it's me that needs to be worried about in this scenario. I mean, I wouldn't mind going on a date with you at all, I just wouldn't think you'd be ready to seriously see anyone yet, you know, after Hunter and all."

"To be honest," I explain casually, "I'm just about over Hunter. Yeah, I really liked him and it was a tough break up and stuff, but if I've gotten to the point where I'm honestly okay with him moving on, I think I should let myself do the same."

He smiles, "I'm glad to hear you say that. But you don't have to hide anything from me, Jeffy. You can tell me if you're still hurting."

I shake my head, "No. Not really. I'd be lying if I said everything was sunshine and roses all the time, but I really am doing a lot better."

He nods, "Well, um, that's really great. But I'd, ah, I'd be really happy to go on that date with you this weekend. If you're okay with it, of course. I mean, you probably just think of me as a friend anyway, but we can still make it a casual thing, I think..."

"Um, no..."

A worried expression flashes over his face, "Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"N-no, no, I don't mean no like that," I say quickly, "I mean, no about me just thinking of you as a friend. Unless you want me to. But I'd be happy to go on a date with you, too."

He reaches over and takes my hand, "Okay, well, I'm gonna take a leap of faith here and be blunt about this. I really like you, Jeff. Like, seriously. If you're interested in me, or you're not ready for something like that, that's totally fine. I'll try and just forget about it. But until you tell me otherwise, I'm gonna have legitimate romantic feelings for you."

I bite my lip, squeezing his hand, "Well, I really like you, too. The same way that you like me. And I would never, ever tell you to try to feel otherwise."

A warm glow washes over his face, "Wow, that just, that means so much to me. So, um, hypothetically speaking, if I were to ask you out, what would you say?"

I roll my eyes and pull him into a tender kiss. We hold each other there in a long, blissful moment before we finally let each other go. I grin as we break apart, "I would say you hardly even need to ask."

He leans again to kiss me, "Well, this is officially the best day of my life."

I nod, wrapping my arms around his neck, "I think I can confidently agree with that statement."

We snuggle up in his room for the rest of the day, talking, kissing, and just enjoying each other's company. When it eventually gets late, I give him one last kiss before heading back to my room. I head down the hall with a quiet sense of pride and happiness.

I walk into my room where Sebastian and Hunter are making out against the side of the bed. "Hey guys," I greet them casually, kicking my shoes off.

They both frantically climb off one another, flushed and embarrassed. Sebastian stands up, "Hey, um, what's up?"

I grin playfully, "For once I can say that my evening was probably as good as yours."

He raises his eyebrows, "Oh yeah? How so?"

"Oh, I don't know." I answer, purposely being vague.

Hunter sits up, "Did you see Nick?"

"Damn, you got me." I mutter, sitting down on my bed, "Yeah, I saw Nick. And now I'm gonna brag to you guys about how awesome it all was. He asked me out, and we kissed like a million times. And he's just the best kisser in the word. And he's so sweet. And he's so handsome..."

Sebastian smirks, "Did you get to third base or anything interesting like that?"

I shake my head at him, "Of course not. We literally just got together. Unlike some people around here, we know how to keep in our pants for more than five minutes at a time."

"You wanna make something of it?" Sebastian asks with a grin.

"Not really. That's what Hunter's for. Just keep it down, though. It's getting late and I was hoping to get some sleep tonight."

Hunter nods, standing up, "Sure thing. I should probably get going anyway." He kisses Sebastian goodbye and walks out.

Sebastian grins at me as we climb into bed, "You know I'm really happy for you and Nick. I've been routing for you guys since day one."

I smile, "Yeah. He's really great. Honestly, I don't know why you didn't snag him while you had the chance. Just between you and me, he's a way better boyfriend than Hunter."

"For you," he mutters, "That's kind of the idea. You and Nick are perfect for each other while me and Hunter are perfect for each other. Worked out pretty well, don't you think?"

I sigh, "Yeah, I guess I'll give you that much. I don't know if Hunter told you about our date on Friday?"

He nods, "I take it you guys are coming?"

"Yup. We'll be there. Maybe it will be kinda fun now that everything's in order."

"Exactly."


	18. Chapter 18

By the time Friday night has finally rolled around, Sebastian still hasn't found an outfit. He's been fussing about his clothes pretty much since classes got out a few hours ago. I walk out of the shower to see him pouting in a massive piles of clothing that's he gradually built up all over the floor. "Oh jeez," I mutter towel drying my hair, "You know that Nick and Hunter will be here in an hour, right?"

"Yeah, I know, that's the problem..." he mutters, exasperated, "I still don't know what to wear. I feel like I just look totally blah in everything."

I give him a half smile, "You know that you look great in pretty much everything, right? Besides, I doubt Hunter will even notice."

"Hunter had better notice! At least if I come up with anything decent after all this time..." he says, glowering.

I scan over the mound, "Well, I've always thought that your khakis looked nice..."

He shakes his said, "I always wear khakis. I want to surprise him, you know, with something sharp."

I bite my lip, "That's the problem with always looking sharp, Bas. It doesn't really surprise anyone after a while."

He pauses, looking up at me, "What size stuff do you wear?"

I shrug, "Um, I don't know. Whatever fits?"

He stands up, "Well, we have similar body types, so I'm sure we could fit into each other's clothes. Maybe if you wear my stuff and I wear your stuff than we'll both look awesome."

I raise my eyebrows, "Or it'll just look like we dressed each other."

"That's why we have to be smart about it, duh." he replies, going through my dresser drawers, "Like, I wouldn't be caught dead in your punk jeans and hoodies, but I'm sure you've got something decent in here..."

I frown, "My jeans and hoodies aren't 'punk' just because they didn't cost me two hundred dollars, you know..."

"Whatever, too punk for me..." he mutters, adding my clothes to his mountain.

I sigh as I begin to dig through his clothes, "Well good luck, I guess."

"What do you think of this?" he asks, pulling out a hot pink blouse.

"I don't think I've ever worn that, like ever, but I think it would look cute on you. It's yours if you want it."

His face brightens as he tosses his other shirt off and puts the new one on, "So, what do you think?" he asks as he buttons it up.

"Um, it's nice. I like it." I mutter, looking up at him.

He grins, looking at himself in the mirror, "Eh, I guess it'll have to do."

"In one condition," I mutter, tossing him a pair of white jeans, "You have to wear those with it."

He looks at them tentatively, "I don't know, man. White kind of makes me look fat..."

I roll my eyes, "They're only a few shades lighter than you khakis. And besides, your legs are ridiculously long and really really thin. Looking fat isn't even relevant."

He sighs, "Yeah, I guess so. Should I wear a tie?"

"Um, I don't think so. Unless Hunter said to wear one. I think it might be a little too formal."

He shrugs, changing his pants, "Okay, fair enough."

I sit down on the floor and continue to dig around some more.

As soon as he finishes changing he drops down beside me, "Go do your hair or something. I've got the perfect outfit picked out in my mind."

I look at him nervously, "Are you sure?"

"Duh," he mutters, digging through his clothes, "I'm an expert, just go do your hair before it gets any later."

I go into the bathroom to dry and style my hair, finishing it up as quickly as possible. When I go back over to Sebastian, he already has an outfit laid out on the bed for me. A sky blue button up with black pants and matching suspenders. I raise my eyebrows, looking over at him, "Do I really have to wear the suspenders?"

He nods, "Absolutely. I was thinking you could wear those blue sneakers that you have to give it that Jeffy edge. Nick will totally dig it, I promise..."

"I guess so.." I mutter nervously as I get dressed.

By the time we have ourselves put together, we hear a knock on the door. We both exchange frantic looks as pile our clothes into the closet. I walk over to open the door as he finishes up. Nick and Hunter are both standing there, looking relaxed and quite frankly, gorgeous as hell. Hunter's wearing red and Nick is wearing green, which is, in my opinion, only too convenient. Nick stares at me for a long moment, "Wow, Jeff, you look amazing."

I grin, hugging him, "You look even better. Good color choice, by the way."

He smirks, "Yeah, you too."

Sebastian walks over and nudges me out the door, closing it behind us. He and Hunter exchange impressed looks, "Damn, Hunt, you clean up nice."

He rolls his eyes, kissing him on the cheek, "I'm always cleaned up. You look cute in pink, though. Something about it suits you."

Nick and I hold hands as we walk out of the building and get into the back seat of Hunter's car. I sit in the middle seat, cuddling up next to him, "So, um, did Hunter ever tell you where we were going?"

He nods, a playful grin on his lips, "Yeah, he did. But it's kind of a secret. You and Bas can't know until we get there."

I look over at Hunter, "Can you explain to me why you chose to tell Nick and not me? I don't think that's really fair, I mean, you guys hardly know each other..."

Hunter smirks, "Nick and I had plenty of bonding time over choosing the venue. Besides, we need to be close if the two of you are. It makes enough sense, don't you think?"

Sebastian glances back at me, "I think it's pretty romantic, actually. I'm a real sucker for corny shit."

I shrug, "Yeah, I guess so..."

It's a long drive to wherever we're going, and I almost fall asleep on Nick in the car. I sit up when we finally stop, in a small lot by a hug lake. I look around, a little confused. Sebastian bites his lip nervously, "I have a bad feeling one of us is gonna get murdered or kidnapped out here..."

Hunter smirks as we get out, "It's better than it looks, I promise."

He leads us around the corner where we see a large boat on the docks down the beach. Hunter smirks, looking at the expressions on all of our faces. I stare at him in disbelief, "Is that a yacht?"

"No, but it's close enough." he answers with a laugh. Nick takes my hand as we walk across the beach and get on the boat.

The inside is even nice looking than the outside, with bright lights, and a beautiful dinner table set with candles and flowers. Sebastian looks thoroughly impressed as he turns to Hunter, "Not bad, I'm not gonna lie."

Hunter grins as we all sit down, "Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good idea. And well, Nick agreed so..."

We're all even more shocked when Hunter's wait staff comes out and serves all us with extravagant dishes and even wine. I can't help but think back to the first date that I went on with Hunter way back when we first started dating. I sigh, leaning my head on Nick's shoulder.

We all talk about miscellaneous things all through supper, cheerful and relaxed. After a bit I can't help but notice that Sebastian is really quiet. I look over at him, "You okay?"

He nods, "Yeah. I was just um, thinking..."

Hunter puts his arm around him, "What are you thinking about?"

Sebastian sighs, forcing a smile, "I was just thinking about how happy I am that we're all finally friends. It just kind of sucks that it took us so long to get here. In a matter of weeks we'll all be going our separate ways..."

Nick nods, "Mhm.. That is kind of a pity. But we'll are stay friends, right? Wherever life takes us, we can all call each other and stuff..."

I grin at Nick, "Well, I don't have any plans to go to college next year, so maybe I'll just follow you."

He smiles, "That sounds great. But don't let my hold you back from doing what you want to do with your life."

I shake my head, "I need some time to get it all together, anyway. That is, if you don't mind me tagging along."

"No, of course not."

Sebastian stands up, a troubled expression on his face, "I'll um, I'll be right back.."

I exchange concerned looks with Hunter and Nick before following him out onto the outside of the boat. He's leaning on the side of the railing, tears in his eyes. I walk up beside him, putting a hand on his back, "Are you alright? What's up?"

He nods, choking it all back in, "Yeah, I'm fine. You can um, just head back inside. I'll be in in a minute."

I shake my head, "Just tell me what's the matter. I'm here for you, you know..."

He sighs, crossing his arms and facing towards me, "I'm just worried about Hunter. He's joining the Air Force, he leaves in August for training, and after that I don't know when I'll see him again... I'm gonna miss him like hell..."

I bite my lip, "I'm so sorry, Bas... I wish there was something I could do. I'm not sure what your plans are for next year, but you're more than welcome to stay in New York with Nick and I..."

He grimaces, wiping tears from his eyes, "Thanks. I might take you up on that. I don't know how I'm gonna survive without him, you know?"

I nod, "Yeah, I do. It won't be easy, but you'll be alright. And so will he. It'll take time, but he'll come back for you in the end."

Nick and Hunter walk outside and head over to us. Nick looks around nervously, "Is everything okay?"

Sebastian nods as Hunter wraps his arms around him, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm fine."

I take Nick's hand and lead him back inside, "I think they need some time alone."

We sit down together at the table, a worried look still on his face, "Is he alright?"

I sigh, "Yeah, for the most part. I guess Hunter's joining the Air Force for a while. Bas is just really upset because he's gonna miss him so much. I told him that he could stay with us, if that's okay. I know it was imposing a little, but I think he's really gonna need us..."

He nods, taking my hand, "No, that's totally okay. I would have done the same thing..."

"Yeah..."

He gives me a small smile, "As much as I don't want to hold you back or anything, I'm really glad that you're gonna stay with me. I can't imagine what Bas is going through. I'd probably lose it if I had to be that far away from you..."

I squeeze his hand, "Yeah, definitely. I feel so bad for him. I'm happy that I'm gonna be with you too, though. I just, you mean so much to me. I know we haven't even known each other for that long, but I don't know what I would do without you."

He leans in and kisses me, "I love you."

I feel a warm, comforting sensation wash over me, "I love you, too. More than I can even say..."

I stay in Nick's room with him so Sebastian and Hunter can have some privacy. I curl up in his arms, happy as a clam. He kisses me on the cheek, "Sweet dreams, Jeffy."

I grin, turning around to give him a peck on the lips, "Goodnight, Nicky. I love you."

"I love you too."


	19. Chapter 19

When all is said and done, the rest of the school year seems to flash right by. Show choir Regionals come and go, as well as the rest of any all sports seasons. Nick and I are closer than ever, and we couldn't be happier. Sebastian and Hunter tend to fight a lot, but they always resolve their disagreements pretty quickly.

And now it's the day before graduation, and everyone is packing up their things and getting ready to say goodbye. Nick finished packing early so that he could help me out, not that it's taking me that long, anyway. Sebastian walks into the room around noon, a worn expression on his face. Nick smiles over at him, "Hey Bas, have you finished packing already?"

He nods, looking over at his bags in the corner of the room, "Yeah, I packed a few days ago, actually..."

I raise my eyebrows, "I didn't think you'd be so eager to get out of here."

He sighs, "It's not that. I've just been trying to keep busy now that show choir and lacrosse and stuff if over. I've had way too much time on my hands, it's kind of a bummer, honestly. I just, um, I guess I just have a lot of stuff that I haven't really wanted to think about lately, you know?"

Nick nods, "Yeah, I get it. You mean Hunter, right?"

Sebastian furrows his eyebrows, "Yeah..."

He puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You guys still have two more months together. Look on the bright side, he's not going anywhere just yet."

Sebastian sits down on his bed, "Yeah, I know. It's just that him leaving gets more and more real every day, you know? I already miss him."

I give him a half smile, "Do you guys have any plans for the summer?"

He shakes his head, "No, not really. He has to go home and visit his family on Colorado for a bit. He says that he'll make sure that he sees me again before he leaves in August, but no amount of time would really be enough..."

Nick sits down next to him, "That must be really tough. But um, unless he has any plans to leave before then, how about you guys all come to my place for the weekend? My parents are coming out here for my graduation, but my dad has a business trip he needs to go on afterwards, and my mom was gonna with him. We'd have the place to ourselves."

Sebastian smiles weakly, "That sounds really great. I don't think Hunter really has any plans to leave for sure. Not that he's mentioned to me, anyway. I'll ask him about it."

He grins, "Sounds great. Promise you'll come even if he can't?"

Sebastian nods, "Yeah, of course. Unless for some reason I can be somewhere else with him."

"Oh yeah, of course.."

Graduation day is filled with hugs and tears for everyone. I'm a lot more apathetic about it than most of the boys, though. I don't feel like I'm leaving much behind, probably because I'd only been there a year anyway. But mostly it's because I know that I'm not really going to have to miss anyone all that much. Of course I will a little bit, I made some friendly acquaintances in my short time at Dalton. But I'm not losing anyone close to me, I'm going to go and live with Nick and Sebastian, so I'm totally okay.

I wish the same could be said about Sebastian. He's in pieces all day long, trying to hold himself together as he says goodbye to all of his friends, but sobbing non stop on the inside. I can tell it hurts Hunter, too, he's just less obvious about it. There's a quiet sadness on his face the entire day that only softens when he's looking at his boyfriend. Nick is a positive kind of sad, he's always been really great about this kind of stuff. He's proud of everyone for making it this far, and wishes them the best in their journeys outside of high school.

At the end of the day, we all get together back in me and Sebastian's dorm room to talk. Hunter's the last one in after his long goodbyes to all the people he won't get to see before he leaves for the military. His boyfriend hugs him as he enters the room, frantic yet loving. Hunter holds him in his arms as he sits down, "So, when do we leave?"

Nick shrugs, "We can leave tonight if you guys want to. My house is a good hour or two away, if you don't mind the drive. We can stay here tonight if you guys want, though. Things don't totally shut down for another day or two, as I'm sure you already know."

Hunter turns to Sebastian, "What do you want to do?"

"Doesn't matter to me."

Nick turns to me and I just shrug my shoulders, "Doesn't really matter to me."

Nick looks at Hunter, "Would you mind driving out tonight or would you rather wait?"

"We can go out tonight, if no one has a preference. I could use some time to wind down, anyway. I'll go grab my things."

My boyfriend pets me on the shoulder before following Hunter out the door.

I turn to Sebastian who still looks like he's in pretty rough shape, "Are you gonna be alright?"

He nods, looking up at me, "Yeah, um, I'll be fine, thanks. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be this upset already. Especially if I have another 48 hours with him." I can hear his voice break and I immediately wrap my arms comfortingly around him.

He's quiet for a long moment before moving away from me, "Ugh, god, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be such a baby about this. I'll try and keep it together."

I force a smile, "Don't apologize. If you want to let yourself be upset right now, that's totally fine. I just wouldn't want to see you waste any of the precious time that you have left with Hunter..."

He runs a hand through his hair, putting on a straight face, "Thanks. And you're right. I'll try and make the best of this, and save all my tears until the last hour or so at which time I'll just melt into a puddle of sadness." He clears his throat, sitting up, "But until then, ahem, I'm all sunshine and smiles."

I look at sympathetically as we gather our bags. Hunter and Nick come back relatively quickly and we all head out to the parking lot and pack our things into the car. I climb into the back seat with Nick and cuddle up with him as we hit the road. It's a long, pleasant drive filled with laughs and smiles as Nick struggles to direct Hunter back to his house.

We get to Nick's house late that night, sometime around eleven o'clock. We all follow Nick up the stairs to his room and put our things down. Nick looks around, "Is anyone hungry or do you just wanna head to bed?"

"Honestly, I'm pretty starving. You guys wanna order a pizza or something?" Hunter offers casually.

I nod, "Yeah, that sounds kinda great. I think I got plenty of sleep in the car..."

Nick smiles, "I think there's a place down town that's open 24 hours. I think it's just pick up after a certain time, though. Anyone wanna come with?"

"Yeah, I'm in." Sebastian mutters, whipping out a piece of paper, "So what do you guys want?"

I shrug, "I like pretty much anything, honestly."

He looks at Hunter, who just answers vaguely, "Anything awesome. Extra whatever toppings you guys like."

Nick and Sebastian head out to pick up the pizza while Hunter and I hang around awkwardly in Nick's room. He looks over at me, sitting down, "So um, you excited to go to New York with Nick and Bas?"

I nod, "Yeah, definitely. We're all really gonna miss you, though. Especially Sebastian, he's really torn up about you leaving..."

He lets out a heavy sigh, "Yeah, I know. I'm gonna miss him like hell. I'm glad he's going to have you two, though. You're probably the only people that I'd trust to take care of him."

He give him a reassuring smile, "We'll do our very best, I promise. You take of yourself, too,okay?"

He smirks, crossing his arms, "You don't have to worry about me, man. I can take care of myself just fine."

"I hope so. Because we're all already worried enough, you know?"

"Mhm, I'll be fine, though. You guys don't have to worry about me. I'm a pretty tough guy, I can handle whatever gets thrown at me."

I lean back, "Glad to hear it. I think Bas will need more convincing, though..."

He bites his lip, "Trust me, I know. He's been pretty inconsolable lately about all of this. I'm doing my best but I'm afraid that you and Nick are gonna have to pick up the slack while I'm gone. Of course I want to spend a few weeks with him after I visit my parents and stuff, but it's still gonna be pretty tough."

Our boyfriends get back quicker than we thought they would and we all head downstairs to eat. Sebastian sits down next to Hunter, hugging his arm the entire time we're at the table. We're all having a good time, but I can't help but feel really bad for them. I'm so lucky to get to go and live with Nick, I can't imagine what it would be like to be thousands of miles away from him for so long.

After we finish eating we all get ready for bed and say goodnight to each other. Nick and I stay in his room while Hunter and Sebastian sleep in the guest room downstairs. I climb into bed next to Nick, pulling the blankets over us. He smiles at me as he shuts the lights off and puts his arm around me.

I kiss him on the cheek and he instantly pulls me closer to kiss me on the lips. I grin, eagerly kissing him back. We both sigh happily when we finally break apart. "So, are you gonna miss Dalton?" he asks casually.

"Not really. Maybe a little bit. I'll miss Trent and Wes and some of the other cool guys there. But I'm definitely okay with it, I get to stay with you, so that's what's most important to me. What about you?"

"Yeah, I'll definitely miss it. I'm gonna miss being a warbler probably more than anything. My life pretty much revolved around that for the last four years, it feels weird knowing that it's over. I'm gonna be okay, though. Cause I've got you, and Bas, too."

I smile, "Yeah. I'm kind of gonna miss the warblers, too, even if I wasn't even around for that much of it. There were a lot of cool things about Dalton.."

"Yeah, definitely." he agrees calmly, "I think I had a pretty good high school experience, I'm excited to move on, though."

"Mhm. I still don't know what I'm gonna do with myself, but going into the unknown with you definitely has an intriguing appeal."

We don't stay awake much longer than that, quickly quieting down and falling asleep in each other's arms, safe and happy.


	20. Chapter 20

I wake up the next morning in Nick's arms, feeling drowsy and content at the same time. He smiles over at me, "You're finally awake, huh?"

I smile over at him, "Yeah. What time is it?"

"It's almost nine thirty..." he answers, looking at the clock.

"Oh," I mutter, sitting up and rubbing my eyes, "That's not too bad is it?"

"I guess that depends on what your opinion of what's bad and what isn't..." he says casually, wrapping his arms around my waist, "So what do you want to do today?"

"Um, I don't know. Doesn't matter, I guess..." I mutter vaguely, kissing him on the cheek, "What do you want to do?"

He stands up and grabs some clothes out of his suitcase, "It's all good. I think I'll leave it up to Hunt and Bas, though, considering they have less time together than we do."

"Sounds good to me."I agree with a smile, quickly getting dressed, "Do you think they're up yet?"

"I doubt it," he replies with a laugh, "You know Sebastian, he won't get up unless he absolutely has to. And even though Hunter's an early bird, I doubt he'd leave him to wake up alone, all things considered..."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Should we give them a rude awakening or this that too dangerous?"

He grins as we walk into the bathroom to brush our teeth, "It's probably a really dumb idea, but it'll be fun nonetheless. Worst case scenario we'll get beat half to death and we can all laugh about it in a year or two..."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," I say with a mouth full of mouth wash,"So what should we do? Bang pots and pans? Drop a water balloon on them?"

"As fun as the water balloons sound, I think that's a bit much," he mutters as we head down the staircase, "It'd be a real pity to die the day after graduation."

In the end, we decide on banging pots together while singing one of those obnoxious wake up songs. Hunter shoots up in bed immediately, giving us both the death stare, "I've been awake for over three hours already. If you don't get the fuck out of here right now I will strangle you in your sleep!" Nick and I exchange worried looks as we cease our ruckus.

Sebastian looks up at us, still sleepy, "What are you guys doing? I was having a dream..."

Hunter kisses Sebastian on the cheek before climbing out of bed, "I hope you guys know we're gonna get you back for that. Times ten, at least..."

I smirk, "Oh, it is so on..."

Sebastian follows Hunter out of the room for a shower while Nick and I head into the kitchen. He smiles at me, "I'm not gonna lie, that was pretty great. Even if I am gonna be woken up with tarantulas all over me tomorrow."

I nod, "Yeah, I think it was worth it."

He kisses me on the cheek, "I'm gonna make some breakfast for everyone, what do you want?"

I shrug, "Anything's good. I'm curious to try your cooking."

"Um, I can do eggs, pancakes...?" I mutters, digging through the refrigerator.

"Eggs sound great." I reply with a peppy grin, "Can I help?"

"Sure, only if you want to, though. Don't feel obligated."

I nod, "Of course I want to."

We cook breakfast together while Hunter and Sebastian finish up their shower and get dressed. When we're finished, we all sit down at the table to eat. Sebastian smirks over at us, "This is a nice gesture, but you know it doesn't make up for the stunt you pulled earlier..."

"That wasn't my intent," Nick replies with a laugh, "But when I think about it, I guess this doesn't hurt my case any..."

Hunter nods, "Fair enough. You got anything planned for today?"

Nick shakes his head, "Not really, I thought that I would let you guys decide."

The rest of the day is spent hanging out around the pool, swimming, relaxing, and forcing a reluctant Sebastian to come in the water. The weekend speeds by way too fast for all of us, but we have a good time, anyway. Monday morning we all get up before Hunter and Sebastian have to leave.

We're all sitting around the living room with mugs of coffee around 8 A.M., hanging out one last time before it's time to see them off. Sebastian is cuddled up under Hunter's arm, clinging to him like a cat to a tree. Nick and I are more relaxed with our arms casually linked together. Hunter sighs heavily, taking a sip of his coffee, "I'm gonna miss you guys so much..."

Nick gives him a small smile, "We're gonna miss you too, man. You should come stay with us when you eventually get out of service. How long did you enlist for?"

"Four years," Hunter answers plainly, "I guess that means we can all meet up again after you finish college."

"Unless I go to grad school," he replies, "I'm still not sure if I'm doing that or not, but either way, we could all still move in together then."

Hunter grins, "Yeah, maybe. Unless me and Bas end up getting married, if that happens, we're definitely getting our own place. Maybe we can be in town, though."

I can't help but notice Sebastian brighten up for the first time all day. I smile at him, happy that he has something like that to think about.

"Wow, I didn't think Hunter Clarington and Sebastian Smythe would be the first of my friends to be getting married," Nick comments with a grin, "Funny how people change."

"Yeah, that won't be for a long time, though. Maybe you two will beat us to the punch."

Nick shakes his head, "Nawh, I don't think so. Well, it's possible, but there's no way we're getting married without you at our wedding. So unless we get married like right when you get back, I don't think it'll happen."

Sebastian shrugs, "Fair enough. I don't think I could live without you two at my wedding, either."

Hunter crosses his legs, "Wow, this is tacky. You guys are all so, I don't know, girly about this stuff."

Sebastian rolls his eyes, "Well, someone has to be excited about weddings or we'll never have one, you know? And there's no way I'm getting married in a court room or anything lame like that..."

I nod, "Yeah, I feel like that ruins the experience, to be honest. Even if we're not gonna have traditional straight weddings, they still have a lot of meaning and what not."

Hunter rolls his eyes, "I'm not saying I don't want a wedding, I'm just saying that it doesn't need to be a huge deal like some people make of them. I'd rather spend the thousands of dollars on the honey moon, you know?"

Sebastian smirks, "True, but it's a good thing we're both more than well off, then, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so..."

Nick puts his arm around me, "I just kind of want a small, intimate wedding, you know? One where you know everyone that's there..."

Sebastian shrugs, "That's nice, I guess. But the bigger the crowd, the bigger the party, and you can really only know so many people."

He shakes his head at him, "You would say something like that. But I don't really know if I want my actual wedding ceremony to be a party, that's what the reception is for."

"Yeah, but if you don't go to the wedding, you probably won't be at the reception."

Hunter glances down at his watch, "As cute as all of this is, it's getting late. We're gonna need to get going now if I'm gonna be on time after dropping Bas off at his place."

I nod as we all stand up to exchange hugs. Nick and I walk outside with them as they pack their things away in the car. Nick smiles at Hunter and shakes his hand, "We'll see you again before you leave, right?"

He nods, "Yeah, it might be a while, though, I'm gonna pretty far away. Take care of yourself."

Nick sighs, "You too, man. Feel free to stop by at any time, though."

I hug Sebastian tightly, "Are you going to be alright?"

He nods, "Yeah, for now. My dad's house is well over an hour away, so I still have a little time left, though. Hopefully I can come back and see you guys really soon, though. My folks get sick of me pretty damn quickly."

I give him a half smile, "I'm gonna miss you, even if it won't be that long. It feels weird just knowing we're not gonna live together, you know?"

"Yeah, definitely." he agrees, pulling me into one last hug.

I turn to Hunter while Sebastian turns to Nick. I hug him tightly, tearing up a little bit. He kisses me on the forehead, "Hey, don't get so upset. You'll see me again in a month or so, it's not a big deal."

I nod, quickly wiping my eyes, "I know, I think it's just the idea of saying goodbye to you is kinda freaking me out. I know we've had our rough patches, but you mean so much to me, you always will."

He holds me close for a moment, "You too, buddy. I won't forget about you, either. I'll be back before you know it."

Sebastian and Nick hug each other for a long, quiet moment. Sebastian sighs heavily as he lets him go, "I'll um, I'll see you soon, right?"

Nick nods, "You can come back tomorrow if you want to."

He nods as he walks over to the car door, "I might be." he replies, smiling and teary at the same time.

They both get in the car and we wave goodbye as they pull out of the drive way and hit the road. I turn to Nick after we lose sight of Hunter's car, "Are you okay?"

He nods, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll just miss them and stuff. I know it's not goodbye for that long, but I still feel a little sad."

I hug his arm, "I see what you mean. They're like other parts to us almost, you know?"

"Well, that's what best friends are."

It's odd to consider the fine line between friends and lovers. Sometimes you can't even tell the difference. You feel the same happiness when you're together. You hurt the same way when they're gone. My experience is that love is simply love, no matter what you want to categorize it under. I think it's a pity how people feel the need to classify it. Things fall into place on their own, and sometimes you just have to be happy not knowing what will happen next and just live in the grey areas.

**○The End○**


End file.
